New Life, New Universe
by Daladakea
Summary: You get beamed aboard the Enterprise with a special ability. Mostly just buddies with the crew, some action. WARNING: There will be one major character death. It may not stick or might. I don't know yet. Don't like don't read. Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hello fandom! I was tossing this around in my head for around a year and I've decided to write it. A couple notes though, first being that I cut my finger on some metal today so if there are type errors that's why. Secondly, I find it distracting in stories I read to have (Y/N) in the script, it breaks the continuity.**

**So, not to exclude any males who read this, but I'm referring to the main character**

**as she and as Amelia (no worries, my real name isn't that, I know people sometimes**

**like to put their names in so they are a part of it.) It's just easier to read and write that way. I do mean for everyone who reads this to feel included. Also, my sister will be leaving soon and I can't promise that the one of the two computers we have that she'll take is this one. So it may have to be put on hold. Sorry. We'll see how that pans out. So here ya go!**

Chapter 1

You sit in the one room of your tiny 20' by 16' house and eat your lunch. You are about to go ride your mother's Paint mare Harmony. Suddenly, the dogs start barking in the driveway. A black van drives up and two men from the FBI get out. They walk up to the door and knock. You open it and wake your mother and tell her someone is here. She climbs down the ladder from the loft and comes to stand beside you. "Can we help you gentlemen?" She asks. The taller man steps forward. "Ma'am, this paper holds our instructions to quarentine your family. You are no longer permitted to leave this house. The state has issued a state of emergency for Ebola and you are thought to have been exposed." He says. "What about our animals?" Your mom asks. She had worked hard to build the farm of 60 acres. "You no longer own them. Pending our bloodwork on them, they will be taken away and humanly euthanized to stop the disease from spreading. You will be required to turn over any food that you have. You will be provided with food at the courtesy of the US government. I repeat, until the danger is past, you aren't permitted to leave this...whatever you call this shed. How many of you live in this thing anyway? Nevermind don't answer that." Mom thanked the man for notifying her and began to close the door. What you are about to do was probably quite out of line, as you are only sixteen and you don't have enough knowledge to step out and say what you thought. But you do anyway. And it turns out to be a very bad decision. You step in front of your mother and hold the door open. "All due respect sir, but exactly why can't we leave our house? Ebola is only spread through contact with the fluids of an infected person. It is not carried through the air. Why, therefore, aren't we simply banned from leaving the property? You can see that the house is small, and there are four people that live in it. We need to leave it for most of the day. And you shouldn't stop us, we'd go crazy!"

The man seems taken aback by the information being fired at him like Spock on Star Trek. And also because of the amazingly polite tone from a teenager. He also didn't understand how on Planet Earth anyone could know that Ebola didn't spread through the air since they'd changed the information months ago. "First off young one, you shouldn't be correcting an adult, and second of all, you know too much. So my pal and I are going to closely monitor your emails and phone calls. And if we see anything that tells of what you know, we have the right and responsibility to arrest you. Is that understood?" You shrink back thinking of gunshots and dead bodies and decide that it wouldn't be wise to argue further with an FBI agent who is most likely armed. "Yes sir. You say quietly. "And furthermore, you weren't given super intelligence and many different senses just so that you could judge the government. We can remove the chip in your brain producing these abilities at any time, although you've had it long enough now that it doesn't matter now, the new abilities will show up randomly anyway." You would've jumped to the moon if you could have. "Wait, why wasn't I told this? I'm bionic?" The shock of the realization that your life was an experiment numbs you enough to what he says next that you don't scream. "In a matter of speaking, yes. But you have to understand that you are only a prototype. We can't do anything more than manipulate your neural pathways to our needs. It's not like on Lab Rats or anything where we change how your body functions in general.

Anyways, we are not taking out that chip, because you are still being studied. I have been your monitor and manager for twelve years when you were first selected for the experiment. You can't have any choice in the matter because you are a minor. Your parents knew nothing of this when it happened, so they have no say either." "So my life has been being watched like a television and I didn't know about it? Why did you do this?" "That's none of your business." You again step forward. "I think it is my business sir. It's my mind, my body, my life you want to study and control. I think I have a right to know why it was done. Now please tell me." The man drew out a gun and cocked it. "I don't explain myself to children. Now if you'll kindly step back into the house, I need to be leaving."

You shut up and back down. He closes the door and the men drive away. Later your brothers Tom and Allen come in from the woods and ask why they can't leave the house. Mom just tells them the truth. You offer to play on Horse Isle 2 and help them with the minigames. Everyone settles quietly into the imprisonment. For now.

One week later

_The man in the red shirt shakes with excitement. Weeks of working on off hours and toiling through the night and he was going to do it. He would beam someone from the past onboard the Enterprise._

_He checked over the calculations hurriedly one more time and then pressed the button on his touchboard. _

"I just can't take it anymore Sarah! I am stuck in a tiny house with windows looking at the horses that are my best friends that are going to die soon. I want to run out and ride them and groom them, but I can't do it because I'll be arrested if I do. And we get barely enough food." "Really? The government said they were feeding quarantined people and Ebola patients better than the common citizen."

Sarah is always one to believe the first thing someone says to her and then disregard any other opinion

that opposes it. She was always easy to mislead. You decide to just head off an argument. "Yeah I guess I'm just picky. I'm just so grumpy because I'm stuck in here and you've seen how small this place is. "You let out a frustrated yell. "Hey, it'll all die out soon and then the quarantines will end. As for the horses and other animals, I'm sorry about what's going to happen, but you'll get more."

You talk with her for another hour then go down to get some lunch. Mom turns and points out where your food is and goes back to talking on her phone. She is talking to a medical doctor to see about getting a test for Ebola carrying. She wants this quarantine to end as much as you do. When she gets off the phone, you ask her, "Mom, why can't just one thing be normal in my life? I have one Human friend and I have intelligence and senses that not many other people have. Why can't I be a normal kid that likes pop culture and dating? Why can't I have a life that doesn't point to being different all the time?" Mom sighs and says she doesn't know. Then she suddenly starts looking at you in a weird way."Mom, what's wrong?" "You're glowing!" You look and sure enough, you see tendrils of blue light. You feel a tingling sensation and realize that your being pulled away, not knowing where to. You scream and reach for your mother. She reaches out to touch you and her hand passes through. Just as a new enviornment forms around you, you hear her call your name in an anguishing cry. And then she's gone. In her place, there are white walls. And a man jumping up and down and shouting "I did it!" repeatedly in delight. He was wearing a red shirt.

**A/N Tell me what you think a review! If you have suggestions let me know too, although I have a really good idea on where I'm taking this thing. But all comments are welcome.:)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When the man finally settles down enough to look at you, you realize that you know him from somewhere. When the answer hits you, you almost faint from the surprise. It's Montgomery "Scotty" Scott. From Star Trek. He radios someone on his wall radio. You think you hear the name Captain Kirk, but are still too stunned to be sure. Finally, Scotty realizes that you haven't moved. He sees your expression. "Ya aren't built outta stone now are ya wee one?" He jokes trying to get you to say something. Your response is to press yourself against the wall of the transporter to try to get some of the reality to sink in and so that your vision clears. You keep thinking you'll faint or throw up or both.

Scotty seems to take the gesture as fear. "Oh, come now wee one, I am na gonna hurt ya. I'm a friend see?" He steps over and offers his hand to shake. You reluctantly take it and give a surprisingly firm handshake, given your current state. "See? I'm na an enemy." He lifts his hand to brush your bangs out of your eyes. The touch of his hand to your forehead is what gets you out of shock enough to start asking questions. "How did I get here? What did you finally do?" You ask quietly. He gestures for you to follow him. "I finally beamed someone from the past. Here I'll show the equations and how it works.

"Oh!" He stops short as he realizes something on his touch screen. "Oh no. There's a type error. How could I na have seen tha?" Something clicks in your brain. "So that's it!" You exclaim. Scotty turns and looks at you. "Wha's it?" You point to the type error and explain. "The main reason I was so shocked is that not only was I plucked out of my home at both an inopportune and opportune time, but also the fact that I seem to have changed universes. And the type error in your equation is why. It must some unknown constant which allows for the transporting of objects from different times and universes." He looks at you, confused. "Wee one, I only beamed ya in from the past. Why would you think that ya're from a different universe?" "Because, sir, you exist." You reply much like Spock. "Say what now?" Scotty's expression in incredulous now. "In the place where I come from, you are the character of a few movies, tv shows and books. As are the rest of the crew of this ship. Therefore, it is logical to assume that I have changed not only times, but universes. Through a simple type error on your screen, which you may not be able to find an alternative answer for, which means that I might be permanently trapped in this universe." "You sound like that green blooded hobgoblin." said a grumpy voice behind you. When you turn around you see Bones an Captain Kirk. Kirk walks up, shakes your hand and welcomes you aboard the Enterprise. "We were just listening to your conversation with Mr. Scott here. You do sound like Spock. Bones is going to love you." His mischievous grin said otherwise. Even though Bones could see that he was being sarcastic, he grumbled, "That is the biggest fib of the century." "Anyways, before we can see the rest of the ship,you have to take the medical. Bones here will be taking care of that." He then politely excused himself and left Bones to grumble. You wonder if he really got his nickname for what he did in the movie or if he was known for breaking bones after all. You decide not to find out. "You mutter one more word that sounds like that Hobgoblin, and I will never let you see the light of day again." He grumbled. You turn on your childlike, twelve year old's personality. "Ok I won't!" You say cheerfully as you force your hand into his and start skipping down the hall. You may be sixteen but you are small and skinny enough to pass for a twelve year old. Puberty didn't have enough effect to make you look much like a normal teen. You still look like you are twelve and until you get wrinkles, you're likely to continue looking that way. You always get away with being bouncy and childlike because of your size. Bones only grumbles more under his breathe. But you hear him anyway. "Darn it. Have to watch a kid. Jim always puts the whiners with me. Ugh!" You give your most winning smile. "Oh, c'mon! I'm not that bad. Want to teach me medical science? I've always had an interest." He doesn't say anything, but he does stop grumbling. You get the feeling that he likes having you around. You also sense his embarrassment about that. You catch the tail end of a thought that explains the embarrassment. "Oh, I won't tell if you won't Doctor." You say. "Hey what? Did you read my mind?!" He asks incredulously. You smile with enough fake innocence to pass for sincerity. "Nope. Lucky guess." You skip some more. He just shakes his head and keeps walking. He complains that you're going to slowly. You respond by full out sprinting down the hall and pulling him along, "Darn it, kid! You don't even know where we're going! Slow down a bit wouldn't you?! Kids these days! No respect for the elderly." You slow up just barely and can tell he's having more fun than he's ready to admit.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"You say you're sixteen? My tricorder says your biological age is twelve! You sure act like your twelve!" He sets his tricorder down and stares at you in a disgruntled way, but you can tell he's just plain confused. This guy loved to fool people into thinking he was an old grump, and he was. Oh he was. But you see through most of the gruffness and know that he's warming to you. You explain your birthday and that today (time of where you previously lived) marked your sixteenth year third month and tenth day of your life. He grumbles some more about you sounding like Spock. An Asian man whom you recognize as Hikaru Sulu is waiting in the doorway to Sickbay. "All right, so if you're really from where you say you're from, then you know this man. Hikaru is going to take you to the bridge and introduce you to everyone and from there Pavel Chekov is going to show around the ship. Now get outta my sickbay!" You can tell he's doing everything he can to hold back a smile. As you join Hikaru in the hall, you sense, rather than see that he does allow himself a small smile and a, "Nice kid." Before resuming his grumpy persona and continuing his duties. Right before you turn a corner, he steps out and calls, "Ok, fine you little mischief maker! I'll teach you medical science if it mean you can avoid crashing us into a Klingon ship!" Sulu just stares at you. You are laughing too hard to explain. Finally when you can contain your giggling, he asks, "Medical science? You like that?" "Oh sure! I find Neuroscience to be the most interesting though. I think Bones likes me!" Hikaru is chuckling now too. "He must like you if he lets you call him the nickname he got from the captain. Nobody else on board dares to call him that. He'd skin them alive." You think over what he just said. "No Light. He wouldn't, because he is grumpy, but not so much as he'd lead everyone to believe. He has soft spots. You just have to find them." Now Hikaru is looking even more surprised. "How did you know what my first name meant?" He asks. You explain that you know a little Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and several other Earth languages. He just shakes his head. "Here we are." He says as you step onto the bridge.

You look at everyone at their work stations. You notice Spock and Pavel and Nyota especially since they are the ones you haven't met yet. Kirk walks up and asks if you had fun in Sickbay. "Oh of course Captain! Bones is so fun. He's going to teach me Med science. Can you teach me some leadership Captain?" He seems taken aback. For the most part you can't read thoughts, but if people are surprised enough, upset enough or excited enough, they broadcast their thoughts so that you pick up bits and pieces. Right now, he seems shocked by two things. The first being that Bones is allowing you of all people to call him that nickname. The second being that he actually seems to like you and even agreed to teach you something. Jim had been so sure that you were permanently in Bones' Hobgoblin category.

"O-of course. I can teach you a few things I guess." The rest of the bridge crew look up at their Captain. He never stuttered. He must be fairly shocked. The crew had already been briefed on what had happened, so no introductions are made. You walk up to Nyota and ask her to teach you fluency in every language, alien and Earth. She also agrees to teach you the cultures and histories of each world and ethnicity. But she refuses to teach you anything related to Vulcan. She says Spock would be a better teacher, being a Vulcan himself. "Lieutenant, it is illogical to assume that I would be a better instructor based on my species. I am half Human and therefore I wouldn't make as good a tutor as a full blooded Vulcan." You gladly take up the hidden argument. "Your argument, Sir, is irrelevant due the fact that you are the closest thing to a full blooded Vulcan on board the ship. Further, because you grew up around other Vulcans, the language, the culture and the history, you are well enough aware of these subjects to be of more use as a teacher than a Human who has yet to learn even half the language. Therefore I believe that you are the best candidate for the job." "Darn it kid! Just when I thought that I could trust you not to take after him." You hear Bones grump from near where Kirk is standing, grinning like he just discovered the best comedy show ever. You can tell that both Bones and Spock are as amused with you and your antics as Kirk is, but that neither are willing to show it. "Very well, I will teach you. But I shall expect you to be punctual. Understand?" Spock says ignoring the fact that everyone on the bridge is about to burst out laughing. You smile. "Yes sir." As the ship comes out of warp near a new planet, you sense a dangerous presence. "Captain, I think there may be an intelligent life form here, and I don't think it's friendly." He looks at you strangely. He apparently decides that you are overtired. "Sulu, show her to where she will room." Sulu gets up and says to follow you get to your room, you realize that the Captain assigned you the same cabin as Sulu. "We'll have a new bed here tomorrow. You can have the bed tonight and I'll sleep on the floor."

You test the mattress and decide it's too soft. You've slept on floors before and found them much more accomadating. You say as much. Sulu agrees to find you a harder mattress in the future and allows you to sleep on the floor. He says that he'll send Pavel by in an hour to take you around the ship and show you how everything runs overall. You ask for details. Sulu happily replies that if you survive Pavel's Enterprise boot camp, then you can talk with Scotty about details. You settle down for a nice little nap.

In exactly one hour, Pavel comes and enters the code for the door. It swishes open and you suddenly find the lights shining bright in your eyes. You groan and roll over. "Vhy did you not sleep on ze bed?" Pavel asks. "It's Hikaru's not mine." You say as you roll over and sit up. "You look awful." "Thanks"

"Ready to see the ship?" You jump to your feet. "Yep." You head into the corridor and start jogging, just for fun. "Vait! You don't know where you are going!" He starts jogging beside you. Before long you are sprinting through the halls in a race. Of course he is much taller, his stride longer. But you want so much to catch up, to pass him. Suddenly you start making up ground ,er, floor. You scream in your mind for your legs to go faster and reach farther. And they suddenly do. Gradually, you pass Pavel in the hall and he says to slow, that you win and then you are both standing, panting in front of a door that says Turbolift. You know you rode this on your way up from the Engineering deck. Obviously he is going to show you this ship from the bottom up. Best way. Logical. When the Turbolift opens it's doors,you find yourself surrounded by too much noise, too many people and far too much going on. Too many other emotions from others, all good intentions, no storms around no rain, because there aren't clouds, buzzing and bumping and mental links, too many thought around at once... machinesbuzzingpeopletalkingelectronicbuzzingpaveltalkingtoseeifyouareok...

OVERLOAD! You hear everything, see everything, smell everything, sense all thoughts,intentions,emotions, you feel your feet on the floor and feel the air you're breathing...You can't stop all these things, you have to be a part of them. Control the spinning. You are the center of a spinning world. Find your orientation, know where your head is, breathe in, out, find the floor. Can you feel the floor? Yes. Now focus on the floor, only the floor, eyes shut, hearing blocked, no scent, no minds, no feelings, just the floor. You are in the center of a spinning world that you must spin with, you are in the center, control the way it spins and you then control where it goes. Suddenly, your senses are all back in order and you become aware that Pavel is shaking you out of your trance. You find that you are sitting down. "What happened to you? Are you ok? Can you hear me?" You look at Pavel, slowly and only at Pavel. Control the spinning, only Pavel. He's the only thing there. "I'm fine. There's too much going on in here. I had an overload." He looks confused. "Like a computer?" He asks. You shake your head. "Kind of like that. I can hear, see and smell too much at once and then I can't think." You don't want to tell him the other senses. You have intelligence, and intuition. Oil and Water. Shouldn't mix, can't mix but do mix. Shouldn't exist but does. You chose to reveal intelligence, so that will be your path here. Nobody will learn of your special senses and intuition. The two aren't supposed to show up in one person. "Should we skip this section then?" Pavel is asking now. You shake your head and slowly you go through Engineering, meet some key people and make some friends. You learn the basics of machinery far more advanced than you've ever seen, but considered normal here. You wonder how many hundreds of years it took to develop this technology. "It took about two to three hundred years, rather short in the ultimate time. People now can live up to 200 years. Vulcans can live between 3 and 4 hundred and most of the other races fall somewhere in between." Pavel says answering your question, only you don't remember asking it... "Did you read my mind?" He looks surprised. "No. You asked me. How many centuries did it take to create this technology. Word for word what you said. Don't you remember?" You are about to say no, that you'd only thought it, but now you realize what has happened. Yet another ability. Yet another thing to interpreted and used. But not controlled. You control none of your abilities. They still control you most times and at best you can stay in a delicate balance. But you can't tell him that. You can't tell anyone. It would give the bionics away. Although technically speaking, you are no longer bionic since there is nobody to observe and add new abilities. Now your abilities would seem genetically engineered. And after they have fought with Khan, that is the last thing they want to know. So you just say, "Yeah I remember now. Sorry about that." You smile convincingly and begin walking toward the next section of Pavel's tour. Just before you get on the Turbolift, you realize that Spock was observing you. You are now wary of him, because he's analyzing you, just like your managers and controllers in your Universe. You decide to act normally, because Vulcans are good at seeing lies and acts. You just hope he's pleased with what he sees.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N Ok so I'm going to use (Y/N) after all. If it becomes necessary. I hope everyone is liking the story so far, I've only gotten one review so far. I've been thinking about writing a Choose Your Adventure fanfiction at some point but I don't really how it will work. Tell me if you want that or not. Also, as always I'm open to suggestions from my readers for my stories, and since this is my first Star Trek fanfic, it may be nice to have some constructive criticism. Thanks!**

Chapter 4

You and Pavel end up in a Recreation Room. It has a swimming pool, a climbing wall, a wrestling and armed combat training mat , a climbing and a basketball court. "Want to swim?" Pavel asks. You smile and nod. As soon as you have your swimming gear from the replicator, you dive in. Pavel tries splash you, you splash back and then he dunks you. Laughing whenever your mouths aren't full of water you both chase each other around the pool. When Sulu enters the room, you ask to go climbing.

When you get up on the hundred foot wall, you have no second thoughts, unlike Pavel. You climb upin the hardest lane and find a little bit of trouble at the top. You can't reach the one rock. You just manage to brush your fingers by it. And then, you fall. The harness slowly lowers you to the floor. You get up and immediately try again. And again. And again. You try a new method each time. Then you realize that the best way to reach that rock is to reach over to the next lane, pull up an stretch a little farther. You reach it, but your hand slips off. You slide down for the ninth time. "Maybe you should try again some other day Little One." Hikaru suggests. You stubbornly choose to try again. This time, you change your grip and you stay on the wall to the top. Just for fun, you ring the Victory bell. Pavel and Hikaru both give you a lot of applause. When you are about twenty feet from the ground, the bungees holding your harness snap and you fall the rest of the way! You don't scream, you aren't a habitual screamer. You land hard on your shoulder and roll. You stand up, say, "Ow. I won't do that again." And then go behind the wall to investigate. A man is there holding the bungees. They hadn't been cut, they had snapped. The man looked so appalled that any blame you were thinking about vanishes. "I'm sorry. I saw it was frayed and was about to change it. I wasn't aware the line was in use! Honest!" You sense the stress the man is feeling and the worry that he'll been seen as a saboteur. "It's fine. I'm not hurt a bit." You say with your smile. You instantly feel the man relax. As he walks away, shaking his head in wonder, you turn to see Hikaru and Pavel standing behind you. "Your sure you aren't hurt, Little One?" Hikaru asks. "My shoulder is bruised, but the force mostly went into the roll instead of the downward motion. So I'm good." They insist on stopping by Sickbay on the way to dinner. Bones looks over the shoulder. "Whiner! There is nothing at all wrong with your shoulder kid! Your paranoid! Get outta my Sickbay!" He shoves you gently towards the door.

Before you can explain that you weren't the one who wanted you to come get it checked, you find yourself out in the hall, staring straight at Spock. "Spock, I wasn't expecting to see you here. You are going to dinner no doubt?" "Indeed." You notice that Sulu and Chekov are nowhere to be seen and you ask Spock why they aren't here. "I told them to go ahead, that I'd show you where to go and that I'd like to speak with you." "Why?" Yu both start walking. "I am aware you are from a Universe where we are all characters in a 'tv show'. What do you actually know about our pasts?" You explain first about George Kirk, and the events of the first movie. You courteously attempt to leave out Nero and the loss of Vulcan, but apparently that courtesy was lost on Spock who immediately asks you if you know of the planet's fate. You say that you do. You recall the events of the second movie, and what you know about Khan. You try to leave out the knowledge of Spock's emotion, but again, the attempt at tactfulness is lost on the half Vulcan. You admit after being asked that you do know. "The movies seem to be accurate in all but one respect. Admiral Pike didn't die. Kirk had a vengeance for Khan because Khan killed his brother, a fellow Starfleet officer. What did these movies, and the events in them help you relate about yourself?" As soon as you open your mouth, you knew it was a mistake. So you shut and refuse to answer. Even though the Vulcan in Spock claimed not to feel, you know he feels taken aback by the refusal to answer a simple question, even though it was loaded.

Spock knew you were different. He just didn't know how and the knowledge that he didn't know something for once made him curious and slightly annoyed. He tries in several ways during the remaining distance to the chow hall to elicit the wanted information, but you do not yield it. You feel a little frustration radiating from the man. And this guy can hide all these feelings? You wonder how he can live like that. He may claim not to feel, but this guy felt more than anyone else you knew. As soon as the dining room came into view, you bid Spock good day and dashed to get in line.

You don't see it, but you know he's still looking at you, in a mix of wonder and respect, frustration and annoyance, with a tinge of fear. What was up with him anyway? Maybe he'd stop watching you like a hawk in a day or two. You find where Hikaru and Pavel are sitting, plop down at their table and chat with them until dinner was over. Then you run to Sulu's and your cabin and throw yourself down on the bed. You begin remembering. Not just memories of the last days and weeks leading up to the upheaval of your life, but farther, years ago. What you wish you still had. You let yourself feel and remember.

You think Sulu will be gone for at least two more hours. You tell the lights to dim and you watch once again, your life from beginning of memory to present day. It's 7pm ship's time when you start this process. As you hear your mom's voice in your mind, smell the farm, it's all so real, even though you know it's not, and tears start falling down your cheeks. You don't realize you are crying until your mind's eye shuts and you become aware at 8pm that someone, probably Hikaru is coding his way in. You hurriedly wipe your nose and cheeks with a sleeve and pretend to be asleep. He seems to buy the act. He feels warm and happy seeing you lay there so peacefully, and you feel a stab of guilt for lying to him. You almost consider 'waking up' and telling him the truth when he lays a small blanket over you and gently lifts your head to place a pillow beneath it. As soon as his breathing evens out, you get up and go sit in the cabinet under the sink in the bathroom and start bawling your heart out.

Just when you feel safe doing that though, the other door to the dual bathroom swishes open. You again freeze your sobs, but Pavel has already heard you. Just as you are reaching to wipe your tears away,he opens the cabinet. "I thought this would happen." He said softly. You look up. "I'm sorry." You whisper. He looks confused. "Sorry? About what?" You start trembling with the effort of holding in your tears. "For waking you up." "Oh. You didn't wake me up, I got in early and thought I'd take a shower. When the door opened, I heard you." "Oh." Awkward. You try to laugh but you just start crying again. Pavel pulls you gently out of the cabinet and holds, whispering gentle words in your ears. "The doors are sound proof anyway. You couldn't have woken me if you tried. Now Spock might be a different story." He whispers words of encouragement. "You'll be fine. Scotty and I will make sure that you get home safe. I promise." I wish you could stop crying long enough to tell him not to burden himself with promises he couldn't keep. He didn't know for sure if he could send you back and if he couldn't he might blame himself if he thinks he let you down. But right now, you know he's trying to comfort you and make you feel safe. He's being very sweet about having his plans interrupted. When Hikaru wakes up to use to toilet, he comforts you too. Together they provide enough comfort that you begin to feel relaxed and peaceful. Tired even. You settle down and shut your eyes, still concious, barely. Not enough to care what happens. You hear them shuffling around and then feel yourself being lifted. "Thanks Pavel, Poor kid's cried him/herself to sleep." Sulu said. He was the one who carried you. "Will he/she be alright Hikaru?" "Yes. I think so." "We should tell ze Keptin." "No. This a private matter Pavel. This is a problem the little one will have solve on his/her own." You hear them bid each other good night. Then you hear nothing but Hikaru's heartbeat and it's enough to lull you to sleep. You vaguely feel yourself being gently set down on a mattress then you are asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

When you wake up in the morning, you see Hikaru putting his shoes on. You see him start to turn his head to look at you and shut your eyes to see what he'll do. He just walks over, chuckles, brushes the hair out of your face, says, "I'm going to work now, late sleeper are you little one?" Then he does something you don't expect. You feel his lips brush your forehead in a fatherlike kiss. Then he walks out the door and locks it behind him. You open your eyes and stare disbelievingly at the wall.

Then you realize that you will be late for your Vulcan language lesson. Spock will not be pleased. And if he's watching you today like he was yesterday, you wanted to get on his good side so that he'd stop. You throw off the covers and leap off the bed and throw yourself into the clothes that Hikaru replicated for you last night and left on the bed. Then you rush out the door...and run straight into the half Vulcan. He seems surprised. "Mr. Sulu said that you were still in bed. I was coming to wake you." "I woke up, realized I'd be late and got going." You reply with a slight blush of embarrassment. Had he not been half Vulcan, you'd have bowled him over. "Going a bit too much perhaps." He says as the corner of his mouth turns up. "Is that your version of a joke Spock?" You hear the Captain. You turn around and see him lounging against the wall. He was wearing his notorious I'm teasing you and I've cornered you, there's no way out and you know it grin. "Yes Captain. I believe it was." Spock says with no trace of care or emotion. Then he turns on his heel and starts marching down the hall. You scurry to catch up and realize with shock that he had just willing admitted that he told a joke. You begin to notice a little belatedly that your presence on the ship is having a bizarre effect on the crew. They are always surprised by what you say or do. Or confused or both. Pavel is acting like an older brother, Bones is just acting more grumpy, but you can tell he likes you too. Sulu is acting like a sort of father, the Captain is being himself, only a little more joking. Nyota and Carol were a cross between sisters and mothers. Scotty was acting a little more morose than he usually did. And Spock...oh for goodness sakes! He was acting more strange than the rest. He was watching you like a hawk when you least expect him to be and he told a joke of his own making. Why was this crew starting to get attached to you? You haven't done anything. Oh well. That evil presence was still in orbit. Why didn't the Captain know this? Haven't the beings showed themselves? You presently arrive in the study room and learn. "Could you let me do a mind meld?" Spock asks at the end of a lesson. You are taken aback. "Why?" You glance at him suspiciously. "I would like to see how important events in your life may have caused you to become as intelligent as you are. At twelve years old, you should only be interested in things that pertain to you and your safety." Why couldn't you have just looked like a normal sixteen year old? "I am sixteen, not twelve." You say level as you can. Spock detects your irritation but seemingly chooses to ignore it. "That wasn't the matter in question. Although it may be good for you to know that Doctor McCoy has in your official ship's medical record that you are twelve and half Earth years old." More ribbing. Why is he doing this to you? You slap your forehead in mock frustration. "I don't want you in my head Spock. I have a lot of private thoughts in there." "Your privacy would not be invaded. I just wish to know a few less obvious things about you that may point to the source of your remarkable intelligence." You again tell him no and then politely excuse yourself before he has a chance to use logic to persuade you. Just as you make it back to the Rec Room for a swim, the ship rocks violently and the force of the motion throws you onto the floor. You hurry to the Bridge and see looming ominously on the viewscreen a Klingon vessel. The Captain was already deep in negotiation. "Captain Kirk, this world is ours. It may be in Federation space, but just as the boundaries are pushed and blurred due to continued exploration, we ask that you consider this to be Klingon space." "How is it Klingon space" "Simple Captain. It was uncharted territory, and we found it first. Kindly leave, and it will bring a small amount of honor on your pitiful species."

Though Kirk obviously chaffed at having Humans automatically branded as cowards, he knew the Klingon spoke the truth. They peacefully left the system soon after. But they did make sure to take the one adjacent to it that the Klingons didn't take yet. And wouldn't. You walk over to Kirk. "Would it seem condesending for me to offer praise while you are still frustrated Captain?" He turns to look at you. "How did you know I was frustrated? How did you know Bones' thoughts about you? How did you forget that you asked Chekov? You must be a mindreader of some sort." "All lucky guesses Captain. Nothing more. You didn't answer my question." "Fine. I'm always open to praise." "You handled those Klingons very well, and I do think they'll respect you." "Thanks. I think I know someone else on this ship who's earning themselves the respect of a certain half Vulcan."

You suddenly realize that Spock isn't present. "Spock?" You ask incredulously. "Why would he value my opinion on anything? I haven't been on this ship two days!" Kirk looked dead serious. "You may have seen some movies about us, but you only see us on those things for a few hours. They're in elapsed time. I've known Spock for two years. I know when he respects someone or wants to befriend someone. He definitely wants to know you more. I think he sees something in you that reflects something in himself and I think he sympathizes." You stare incredulously. And you thought you were the only one on this ship with surprises to add! "Captain?" You venture. You reveal to him about how Spock had wanted to mind meld with you. "Yeah, that's probably because he wants to be certain about his theories." Jim answered with a small laugh. You walk away perfectly puzzled. Not a clue as to what was going on except that you had something to do with it.

Soon the Enterprise receives a transmission ordering them back to Earth. "Why Hikaru?" He keeps packing his things eagerly. "Shore leave. We get two weeks on Earth to do what we please. I think the senior crew is going to stay at McCoy's ranch in Georgia." Suddenly you're interested. "Ranch? Does he own horses?" Hikaru smiles a little. "I believe so. Do you ride?" In response, you go off cantering around the cabin like a horse and whinnying like one. Hikaru bursts out laughing at your silliness. "What about you?" You ask breathlessly. "A little. I can't do much on a horse, but I learned a little." "Maybe I can teach you." You start feeling really excited. In a few hours the Enterprise docks and you get your first look at Earth from space. It's even more beautiful than you ever imagined.

You have wanted to be an astronaut since you were nine years old. You couldn't because of your eyesight. Now you can't help having a little water in your eyes as you look at Earth as you and your new friends load into a shuttlecraft to go down to the surface. You watch as the craft gets close to the ground. It's first stop is Washington DC. Followed by Atlanta Georgia. As you disembark, Bones is complaining about how shuttles make him sick. You grin absentmindedly. You want to see everything as it is in the twenty second century. Bones waves to an elderly woman. "Leonard! How have you been?" Then when she spots you, "Oh what a darling child! Where in the Milky Way did you get him/her?" Bones briefly explains. "The kid isn't as much of a whiner or a Hobgoblin as he/she may seem at first Mom." The drive to the ranch by hovercar is about three hours. After a while you space out, watching the landscape slide by. Pavel and Hikaru are arguing for fun over whether to swim or hike first or if it would be better to wait until tomorrow to do those things and just rest tonight. You smile again. Bones was talking to his mother about what to have for dinner. Jim was sleeping, Nyota and Carol were talking about how pleasant it would be to spend two weeks in the countryside. Spock was doing some work on his touch pad("Typical Vulcan, goes and spoils all the fun." Bones muttered at some point.) and Scotty was staring at his pad and out the window with an expression of pure worry and frustration. You can't figure out why he isn't babbling about leaving the ship or talking cheerfully about random topics of interest. He hasn't done any of that since you told him about the type error.

You decide not to muse over someone else's problems. As you near the farm, you start bouncing a little in your seat. When you pull into the drive, you squeal in delight at seeing a few horses trotting along by the fence. Everyone turns to look at you. Bones grumbles about ow children are always too loud, but his mother gently reminded him that he'd been so loud when he was young that she'd worn ear protection for most of his childhood. He grumbled some more but apparently agreed with her.

As soon as the car stops, you leap out the door. You run until you get close to the pasture and then force of habit makes you slow down. The horses draw closer. Now you can smell them, that wonderful smell that you've missed for weeks. One horse in particular seems to love you the most. A red roan mare. She sniffs your hand and you take it as an invitation. You duck under the rail and walk up to her. You start petting her and hugging her. Bones tells his mother to get you out, that you can't possibly know anything about dealing with horses. She replies that if that were the case, you'd have been trampled already. Everyone else but you, Spock and Hikaru go inside to help with the dinner.

Presently, Hikaru sets some tack on the fence. English tack. You simply grab the lead rope, tie it onto the halter, put on a helmet and swing aboard bareback. "Not too far Little One. There will be time tomorrow." So you trot slowly in a few circles and pick a canter. You notice Hikaru is smiling so much it looks almost like his mouth will touch his ears. He walks away and goes to the house. Spock stays and silently observes. You slow her down and dismount, untie the lead and give her a final pat. "Are you finished?" Spock asks a little dryly. You nod. You notice that the other tack has already been taken back to the barn. Spock decides to take the lead rope for you. As you walk back into the house, you breathe in the clean country air and start to run. Then you start to jump randomly and then Spock is running next to you. He matches you skip for skip step for step and jump for jump. You wonder if he'll match you laugh for a laugh too. Nope, but he does allow the corners of his mouth to turn up just a little. When you finally slow to a walk, you are panting and out of breathe. He isn't, but the 'smile' is still there. You walk in and sit down just as the sun dips behind the mountains. The meal is delicious.

Corn, lima beans, fresh cow's milk, beef and steak from the cows on this farm, and for dessert, homemade ice cream. It was the perfect meal. After you've effectively stuffed yourself too full to move, you and Hikaru go and play a game of Would you Rather in the living room. Soon everyone is playing it and laughing, even Bones, although Spock is sitting out and commenting on how illogical some of the choices on the cards are. Scotty, you observe, is having fun but there is an undertone of hesitance,worry and doubt. You see him look over at you, as if trying to work up the courage to tell you something and then losing it and looking away. You know what he's going to say, and you begin avoiding him. If nobody outright tells you that you can't go back, you can still pretend that you can.

Around nine pm everyone decides to retire for the evening. Each guest has their own room, since the house is so large. Mrs. McCoy shows you to your room, bids you good night and closes the door. You notice with delight that there is a touchscreen sitting on the nightstand by the bed. You eagerly pick it up and start it. You do more catch up learning. At midnight, Spock looks in you, expecting you to be asleep. "Why are you not asleep? You need to be well rested in order to best pursue recreational activities tomorrow." He asks. You jump. "I found this touchscreen by the bed and thought I'd study a little." "A rewarding use of your time, however, you should be sleeping. Knowledge cannot be properly memorized and utilized without a fully alert mind." You put the screen down and lay down on the bed. "Good night." He says closing the door. You quietly pick up the screen again and turn it on. "Put the screen down and go to sleep." Spock says through the door. You forgot that because of his Vulcan hearing, he could hear it turn on. You shut it off and lay back down. "Good night." You say back. You hear him walk away. You are about to pick it up again and then decide that you are too tired to pursue further study. As soon as your eyes close you are asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

_Scotty walks up to Jim. "Captain, I dinna think I can send the child back." Jim turns away from the window, startled out of his reverie. "Why not Scotty? I thought you could do anything." Scotty shakes his head sadly. "Apparently not Jim. I cannae find an opposite ta this constant. I cannae send him/her back." Jim considers. "Fine, Scotty. But you're telling him/her. Not me. You did this, you fix this. But not until we're back on the ship. I want him/her to handle it with Sulu, and I know he/she'll hide how it hurts until he/she thinks nobody is there." Scotty agrees. He doesn't think that he could work up the courage before then to tell the kid._

As soon as your eyes open the next day you are smiling. You throw off the blanket and make a beeline for the stairs and the barn. As you reach the kitchen however, Mrs. McCoy stops you and makes you eat breakfast. Again the meal is good. Homemade waffles and bacon. Then you rush out the door and find Bones waiting with two tacked horses. One of them was the red mare from yesterday. "Hikaru told me you and this horse seem to have bonded. I'm going to show you some nice places to ride through today okay?" For once he is flat out smiling. As soon as the horses are warmed up, you mix some trotting and cantering. Bones shows you a small cave, a lake and river and a valley with high walls at the end of a long natural tunnel. By the time it's all said and done, it's almost time for dinner.

After that you go to bed. Nine days pass blissfully in this general way. Sometimes when you rode out, someone would come with you. One of those days, one of the best was when you went out to ride before dawn. Bones was sitting out on the porch with his mother, Spock came out of the house in time to see you ride out at a trot. "The child is certainly skilled with horses." He observed the obvious. Then without warning, he ran to the barn and walked to the paddock carrying tack and leading an Appaloosa. "Spock! You don't know how to ride!" Bones shouted after him. "Then it is about time that I learned Doctor." With that, he grabbed a hank of mane and swung aboard to follow you. Having heard Bones shout, you had turned around and watched the debacle. The horse spooked a little at Spock getting aboard, and too late, the half Vulcan realized that he'd chosen a horse with no training.

As he was having this realization, the horse shied and dropped him on the ground. He chose to get another horse and you offered to teach him enough to ride with you. You both spent the rest of that day trying to stop the half Vulcan from falling and soon enough, he'd learned enough to ride to the cave and back. On the tenth day, technically the eleventh since the arrival on Earth things take a sharp turn for the worst. You are cleaning a stall, and Scotty comes in looking very apprehensive. "Wee one, I gotta tell ya something and ya're no gonna like it." A feeling of dread fills you. "I've been trying to find a way to tell ya this without the Captain knowing. He wanted ya ta deal with it with Sulu. But I know that it'll be easier for ya if ya have horses ta keep ya company. Ya already know what I'm about ta tell ya I think." He looks pointedly at you. "Wait a sec." You say. "Why do you think I already know?" "Because ya been avoidin' me like the plague." "I have not!" "Ya have. Wee one, I know ya dinna want ta hear it, but, I- I canna send ya back." "I know. It's fine." He looks up abruptly. "It's fine? Really now? How?" He sounds truly impressed. "Because, at the time I was beamed out of my universe, there was a concern of a disease and my family was thought to have been exposed. We were quarantined, and my horses and other animals were about to be killed to avoid spread of the disease. Then my conversations were monitored with my friends. Basically my world was falling apart and you saved me from that. Now, I have an opportunity for a new life. I should be thanking you Scotty. And I do thank you." Without waiting for a reply, you get on a horse bareback with a halter and lead rope and gallop to the cave.

When you get there, you dismount and tie the horse to a tree trunk. She starts to graze. You plop down inside the cave and cry. Just cry. Only a little, since you don't want to. You wish with all your heart to stop. Spock is likely to be watching. Just then, you hear hoofbeats and see Spock galloping the roan away! It's too far to walk back. You no longer care. You don't cry much more, since you know he's likely to bring Hikaru. You aren't one for always crying on people. They may judge you or make fun of you or just think you're weak. You hope that your eyes don't look watery anymore when they get there.

_Spock saw the child in the cave. He/she started crying. Spock wasn't sure how to comfort a weeping Human, but he wasn't about to sit by and watch like he did last time. He could run about as fast as the horse, but he took her anyway. His reasoning was that the child needed comfort and would just stop crying the moment someone came to help. Or ride on so that they could not find him/her. So he took the horse so that the child wouldn't try to go anywhere. He stopped in at the barn where Mr. Scott was sitting in the tack room, thinking. Spock inquired as to what he'd seen. "I-I told him/her that I wouldna be able to send him/her back. The Captain told me not to say anything until we were back aboard the Enterprise. But I thought the lad/lass deserved to know. Spock, do not tell Jim. Please. Tell McCoy. He loves him/her enough ta help I think. Hikaru and everyone else went to town." Spock told McCoy. McCoy tacked up another horse and lead the roan mare along as well._

You think about how much you wanted to believe that you could choose to stay or go. You love this place, but you want to see your mother and brothers again as well as your horses. You hear hoofbeats and see Bones riding up. He ties the horses and comes to your side. "Darn it kid!" He tries to sound grumpy, but he can't keep the softness out of his voice. He sounds about ready to cry himself. You weren't about to cry but as soon as his arms arms wrap around you, you start bawling. "Scotty told me. It's ok kid. You'll love life here, I promise. I know you miss your home, but maybe you'll feel a home growing into you here too. Darn it kid!" His voice broke and his eyes watered.

He didn't start to cry but he almost lost it. You realize that you're hurting him. He feels bad about what happened and it hurts his heart to know you're hurting. You stop your tears. "Thanks Bones. I know I'll be fine here. Can we go back now?" You are still trembling. Bones helps you to your feet. He sniffles a little. "Darn it kid! You made us late for dinner!" You know he's just trying to establish normality so as to avoid things getting awkward. He wipes his eyes once and mounts his horse quickly. You decide to let him go back to being gruff and tough. But before you do, you have one more question for him.

"Bones." You wait until he looks at you. "Don't tell Jim. Scotty said he wasn't supposed to say anything. I don't want him to get in trouble." Bones grunts and says nothing. You take it that is his very gruff, I'm upset, don't make me lose it, fine I promise grunt. The ride back over the darkening fields at a walk is peaceful. At some point, you don't know when, Spock joins you, but you notice only then he's been there for sometime. He'd been there, seen and heard everything. You wonder why he can't just leave you alone. You don't want to have to hide everything every single time, you need a space to yourself to think and feel. You want Spock's respect. As strange as it is. He looks over at you at one point and you see the softening of his eyes. You feel an aura of sympathy coming from him. You choose to say nothing. As you lay in bed that night, you wonder if you could release your hurt or if Spock will hear you. You decide he will. So you go to sleep. You dream about home. You wake up crying, which you immediately put a stop to. When you get in the van to go to the shuttleport, you sit next to Spock. He just looks at you the whole two hours. You are getting really sick of having him watching you all the time. You try to pretend to be asleep. He isn't touching you, so he buys the act.

He's still looking. Then slowly, you sense him reaching forward. He brushes his hand across your shoulder then lays it there. He can tell now you're awake. But he isn't melding with you since he isn't touching your psi points. He decides that your act is to keep him from staring at you. Just as you arrive at the port, he looks away. He removes his hand and you feel cold without it. You grab it and put it back on your shoulder, open your eyes and look at him. "Thanks Spock." You smile at him. He almost smiles back. It is probably the first affectionate gesture he afforded any Human other than Jim or Nyota.

He loves you, but he won't say it. As you get up, you see that Jim saw the gesture. He gave you a gentle I told you so look. You give him a cheerful fake angry face in reply. He just grins wider.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N I need more reviews. I understand that this story may not be what everyone wants, but it's been up for about a month now and only one person commented. I need suggestions and comments. Please? Pretty please with the Enterprise on top? One question I need answered is: Am I writing the characters OOC? Or are they alright? Please, I could really use the advice.**

When you reach the ship, you go to your cabin and lay on the bed near the window. As you watch the undocking of the Enterprise, you feel a sense of loss. You want to pretend that Earth is there and that you are on it watching this happen on a screen. You feel alone. You hear the door open. Hikaru walks in. "Hello Little One." He greets. You nod in his direction. So he hadn't been told about the whole thing with Scotty. "Where are we going Hikaru?" "Well, I don't know. I need to go to the Bridge for my shift. Would you like to go along?" You skip through the halls enthusiastically. Nobody was going to guess and then tell on Scotty. Nobody would know anyway. When Hikaru takes his place, Kirk moves out of the command chair. "Your turn kid. Take us out." He says with a grin. You glance over and see Spock watching. As always. He looks to be analyzing your response. You aren't as afraid of him not approving, now after that kind gesture in the van, you are terrified of disappointing him. He gives you a go get 'em look. Or as close to that as a half Vulcan can get. You get a bit weak in the knees. "Thank you Captain. But I think the honor should be yours." You smile winningly at him and then walk quickly to the back of the bridge. Spock looks at you quizzically and you feel awful. When the Enterprise is on her way, you turn and walk off the Bridge, trying to put a bounce into your step that isn't really there. You wish that you could have one thing go right today. Just one. You find out for sure that you can't go home. Then you disappoint Spock, one of the heroes of your life.

Ok, ok, not everything went wrong. Having Spock show a bit of affection for you was pretty awesome. You thought he'd only ever love Nyota romantically and Jim as a friend. But he seems to love you too. You smile over that and walk to the Rec Room. You climb the wall, you get bored since it has no challenge anymore. You swim, you climb the ropes. Then Spock walks in, in civilian attire. "Would you enjoy a game of basketball now?" He asks. You stare incredulously. "You mean it?" "Vulcans do not lie. I have a preference for physical activity after launch. I thought you might enjoy taking some time to play a game with me." You hardly believe your ears. You think you may be dreaming. Well you decide that if you are dreaming, you are so going to make the most of it. And you try hard not to laugh at how awkward it had sounded coming from Spock. 'Play a game with me.' Oh man! All your Trekkie friends in your Universe would've been so jealous to see this! And shocked. "What are you laughing at?" Spock says curiously. "You said you thought I would enjoy the game, well, I'm already enjoying it. I'm laughing in joy." He quirks an eyebrow. "Illogical." He states indifferently. You agree. You know he's confused. About an hour later you had just made a perfect 'nothing but net' basket when Spock stops abruptly and says, "How did you do that?" You stop, confused. "What?" "Your aim would've put the ball too far to the right for it to go into the basket. It changed course abruptly and went in. How did you do it?" He gently takes the ball away from you and steps back. "What are you doing?!" "Testing a theory. Hold still. Do not attempt to catch the ball." "Wait what?!" He throws the ball as hard as he can right at you. You don't move other than to duck out of the way. But the ball abruptly hits an unseen field and bounces right back to Spock. He blocks it with an arm and it bounces back to you and you catch it. "Fascinating." He mutters to himself. "What?" "It seems that you put up a force field in the face of danger and that you were thinking very hard about moving the ball into the net that it instantly obeyed your command." "Are you saying that I cheated?" "Perhaps. Though not intentionally. I believe you have become, somehow, what Humans call in their science fiction novels, 'telekinetic.'" You think he may be right. You aren't too shocked but you're surprised. "Spock, can you not tell anyone about this? I don't know how to control it." He agrees. Then he decides that now would be a nice time to get curious.

"Why did you not take the position on the Bridge when the Captain offered it to you?" You blush with embarrassment. You had hoped he might not get the idea. Oh well. Even more humiliation in front of one of your heroes. "I, uh, I..." You stutter. Spock just raises an eyebrow. "If you prefer not to discuss it, I can cease to ask." He says. You know he's confused and slightly irritated. "No, I just don't know if you'll understand. I didn't want to disappoint you. You looked eager to see me do something. I didn't feel ready to try it, but you were looking at me like you were trying to say go for it, and I just panicked. Sorry Spock." Now the irritation is gone, but he is so confused. He reaches for you and places his hand on your shoulder. "You have no need to fear that I will be disappointed. I was merely confused. Why is my contentment suddenly something of your concern?" If you didn't know any better, you'd say that his sounds gentle. But you do know better, and your ears aren't fooling you. "No reason Spock. I have to run now." And you turn and sprint all the way to your cabin. Hikaru had just gotten off shift and was napping. You get your touch pad out and find some old Earth movies to watch. Your favorites are Brother Bear and Treasure Planet. But you also like Mulan. You watch Treasure Planet and listen to Reflection in Mulan, thinking all the while about how you don't fit in. Most of the song you can relate to, maybe not the part about being a perfect bride or about breaking your family's heart.

_Who is that boy/girl I see_

_Staring straight back at me?_

_Why is my reflection someone I don't know?_

You look at your reflection in the glass of the display case of Hikaru's prize sword. Why can't you just be yourself? You don't know who you are yet, because you keep hiding. You hide all your thoughts and feelings from everyone so well that sometimes even you don't know what they are anymore.

_Somehow I can not hide_

_Who I am _

_Though I've tried_

_When will my reflection show _

_who I am_

_Inside?_

You remember always trying to fit in, trying to dress and act like everyone your age, but you just couldn't understand how they could like pop culture and worry about clothes so much. Because you couldn't relate, you couldn't make friends. Sometimes you did, for a few weeks, but like trying clothes on, those people gradually cast you off, and found others. It sort of bothered you, but you got used to it. You know you are lost, your reflection does show that much. But it shows a happy kid, where instead there is an empty space. When would that reflection be the true one? Would it ever? As you are thinking about this, Hikaru wakes up and hugs you. "I know you won't tell anyone, but Scotty just told me that he told you about not sending you back home. I'm sorry Little One. I really am. If you ever want to talk, you can tell me alright?" "Ok." You say as you lean into his hug. You want to talk, to say a lot about your home, you want to cry and release the pain, you want to cuddle for peace and comfort.

But you do none of these things. You know Hikaru is hurting for you and you don't want him to hurt more. So you wiggle out of the hug and smile. "Thanks Hikaru. I'm fine." He looks a little confused, but you can tell he can see right through the act. "If you're sure." You say you are. You watch Matrix with him and then it's time for dinner and bed. The replicated food doesn't taste half as good as the farm food. You want to go back and hide in your cave and ride the days away and hide from the reality that you won't go home, that you have senses and now powers that you can't control, and that people are hurting for you and you can't convince them that you're ok no matter how hard you try. As soon as Hikaru's breathing evens out, you run down to Engineering and enter a little used compartment with a large old filing cabinet in it. Why it was here you have no idea and now it doesn't matter. Spock's not watching, Pavel won't find you, you won't wake Hikaru. And nobody comes into this thing ever.

You hide behind the filing cabinet and cry as hard as you can physically cry. Which isn't too hard at the moment. Suddenly, the door opens and you freeze your sobs. Why does this keep happening? Do you ever get enough time to yourself to feel? You see Scotty walk in and open the cabinet. He takes out a jar and sits down in the corner opposite you. And starts talking to himself. "Poor lad/lass. I feel awful 'bout not bein' able ta send him/her back. Oh, I wish I could get the wee thing to show me just how much he/she is hurtin' so that I can hug him/her and tell 'em I'm sorry." His voice cracks ever so slightly. You feel the aura of guilt that he is projecting. He starts to open the jar, which no doubt contained liquor, but then your body adopts a mind of it's own and starts shaking, the pent up emotion begging to be let out. The shaking rattles the cabinet and just then, you start to sniffle. You don't cry anymore just sniffle. Scotty hears and comes over. You tense up, waiting for his shocked expression. He does look shocked. But then he looks more guilt ridden and sad. "Oh wee one! I'm so sorry. He puts the jar away and pulls you gently out from your hiding place. A moment ago, you were afraid of physical contact, knowing that it was going to shatter your very unstable control of your emotions,but once his arms close around you, you realize that you'd feel cold and alone if he were to let go and leave. You start crying without meaning to and decide that as soon as you can stop, you will for now

Scotty is shaking with the effort of holding in his own tears. "I'm sorry." He whispers again. A few of his tears fall and land on your head. As soon as you can control yourself enough, you pretend to have fallen asleep. You push all the pain down. You squish it somewhere deep inside of you where it can't get out anymore. Scotty looks at you and you catch the tail end of a thought. He thought about how terrible it must be to lose everything you have. As soon as he's sure he won't 'wake' you, he lets out his own heart wrenching sobs. You consider 'waking up' and hugging him and telling him you love him and don't want him to hurt, that you are happy to be here even though you want your home back. You want to tell him how badly you feel that he feels like this because of your hurt. You want to tell him sorry.

After maybe ten minutes, he gives a final sniffle and moves to lift you to take you back. You 'wake up' briefly and tell him all those things. But it doesn't have the desired effect. Instead of making him feel better, he feels even worse about supposedly ruining your life. You pretend to sleep again and hope he'll forgive himself one day, so that you can go near him without causing him sadness. He rings the bell on the door and Hikaru answers it. "Mr. Scott! Oh thank goodness! I was just about to go looking for him/her! I was so worried. Thank you Montgomery. Are you alright? You look awful." As Hikaru takes you from Scotty, Scotty explains what happened. Right near the end he cries a little again. He stops in a moment, but Hikaru gives him a hug anyway after putting you on your bed. You 'wake up' and watch what is going on. You try to shut them again before he turns around, but you aren't quick enough and he sees you. "I'm sorry Hikaru! It won't happen again I promise!" "What are you talking about Little One?" "I didn't mean to cause trouble. I didn't mean to make him hurt. I just went down to an old compartment in Engineering to think a while so I wouldn't wake you. I didn't know Scotty would come in!" "Little One, you needed a safe place to vent, and while Mr. Scott might be feeling guilty, you did no wrong in going there to think and he gave some comfort. You needed it Little One." He hugs you. "Hikaru?" You mutter into his shirt. "Hm?" Comes the gentle reply. "Can I snuggle with you tonight?" "Of course." He lays in his bed and lifts the blankets to let you in. You crawl in. He lays facing the wall on his right, you snuggle up to his back on your left side. You sleep peacefully for the whole night.

**A/N Disney owns Reflection. Not me. The same with all the other songs that appear and are slightly altered to accomadate this fanfiction. I am only going to use Disney songs.**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next day, you wake up late and Hikaru is on duty. You decide that while everyone is busy, you'll go to an observation deck. As you watch space fly by, your body starts producing excess tears that flow silently down your cheeks. You don't feel the emotion causing them. Soon, you take out your touch pad and start to study. You are now up to date on almost all the current knowledge. The tears stopped, but their marks are still on your cheeks. When Scotty walks in, he sees them. "Sorry Wee One. I'm really sorry. So sorry that you can't imagine how much." He hugs you and tries to wipe away the dried tear trails. "I'm fine Scotty. Really." "Oh, laddie/lassie, ya dinna need to hide how it hurts. That's what friends are for. We're all here for ya. Always." "Scotty," You start but he interrupts. "No Wee One, dinna say you're sorry again. I'd know ya were hurtin' and I'd hurt for ya anyway. Seein' ya cry is easier for me because at least then I know ya are dealing with it and startin' ta heal." You don't know what to say. You just keep hugging him as hard as you dare. Finally, he draws back and goes back to work.

Just then, Spock comes in. "y/n I have thought of a way you can learn to control your abilities." Your ears perk up. "Oh? What is that?" "Your abilities seem to activate to alert you of or to protect you from danger. Perhaps if you immersed yourself in a dangerous situation, you will have an understanding on how to control these things." "Spock you want me to risk my life?" "It worked well enough before." "That wasn't lethal Spock. What if they don't work? I die." "It will work." Just as you come up with a proper reply, the ship lurches violently. It comes to a full stop, in Klingon territory. "Looks like negotiating on the surface is our only option." Captain Kirk says when you step onto the Bridge. "Can I go? I may be able to help." You don't remember what you and Spock were talking about, you only want to have an adventure. "Captain,before you object, I believe that it would work to bring him/her along." Off of Spock's opinion you are beamed down to the surface. Into a deadly battle. Lieutenant Sulu immediately sees danger to the left. He aims his phaser set to stun. The Klingon falls. Soon, you are lost in the desert and the dust kicked up from the fight is obscuring your vision. Suddenly out of the storm, you see Sulu. A Klingon is about to kill him! Spock comes up behind you and throws you over to Sulu. You scream as you land and your field goes up. The disruptor beam interrupts the field but bounces back and destroys the Klingon. "How did you do that?!" "I'm telekinetic." "And when were you going to tell me this?" "Never, until I could control it." You shoot Spock a threatening glare. As soon as you are back aboard the ship, you put as much space between yourself and Spock. You go an observation deck on a level Spock rarely visits.

Later, Hikaru comes to see if you're alright. "Spock was only trying to help Little One. He thought he was doing what was best for you. And you did save my life today." "Yeah, I guess you're right." You both start to walk to dinner. You are talking about Spock when you suddenly say, "You know Hikaru, every time something goes wrong aboard this ship, I feel like punching out a wall." Only after the air starts rushing out of the corridor do you realize your mistake. As you and Hikaru fall through the opening, you grab a pipe that is hanging off the side of the ship. Hikaru grabs your other hand. It is soon apparent however, that the pipe won't hold both of you. It starts to give way beneath your hand. "Let go of me!" You hear Hikaru shout. "No way Hikaru! You'll die!" You shout back. He grabs your wrist and squeezes, making your hand open. He holds it and then tells you to let go. Since he's still holding your wrist, you don't have a choice. "Little One, I love you. I'm sorry." And he lets go and falls into space. You scream his name. You don't cry. Not yet. Someone yanks you up seconds later. It's Spock holding on to the wall. He has some sort of suction gloves on. He makes his way to a door and codes it shut behind him. "Lieutenant Sulu is gone Mr. Spock." You say in an emotionless tone. Then you walk off and collapse on your bed in the cabin you had shared with Hikaru. You feel numb inside, a dull ache where just minutes ago had been a sharp pain. You figure you must be getting better at shoving away your feelings. You think and remember and wish until you fall into a restless sleep.

When you awaken, someone is inside the room. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" You demand. Kirk shows his face in a small beam of light from his touchscreen. "Surprise. I'm just here to take Hikaru's things to send to his family." He pulls a photograph that was taken of you and Hikaru riding together near the river out of the sword display. "I think they'll understand if we keep one thing though." He says holding it up. "They'll want a photo of his recent life. Send it to them." You say turning away. You feel a hand on your shoulder. "Hey, hey kid. Hikaru loved you. Why do you think he kept this in that display case? It was one of his most treasured possessions. The family gets the sword, but he'd want you to keep the photo. Take it kid." You reach behind and grab it without looking. Kirk walk out hauling a few boxes of Hikaru's old belongings. You know he'll return for the rest. But to your surprise Pavel walks in. He hugs you and you move away from him. You can't tell him that you murdered Hikaru, even though it was technically an accident. You didn't want anyone to know of your telekinesis. Spock might be understanding, and Hikaru certainly was, but the others wouldn't know what to do with that knowledge. "I'm sorry about Hikaru." You say. "y/n it wasn't your fault." "Yeah it was." "How?" "Nevermind." You move closer to the window. Pavel stays there. And stays. "Go away Pavel." You mutter. He doesn't reply. He just stays. "Why are you still here?" "To make sure you are alright." He sits on the bed next to you. "I'm fine." You get up and make for the door. He moves to block your path. "I don't think so." You are getting irritated. "Why?" You demand a little testily. He just stands there. "I said why!" "Nevermind. I'll go away. After the funeral, you're being transferred to McCoy's quarters." He turns and leaves quickly. You stare after him.

At the funeral, everyone mostly just talks about Sulu. They only talk about how good a pilot he was, one of Starfleet's best. It's you and Pavel who make sure people know what he meant to the two of you. Captain Kirk said a few words about how good he was to the younger people onboard the Enterprise, about how if they felt homesick, he'd make them feel more at home. You thought about the many times that he did that for you. You think about the photo of you two riding together. Hikaru meant the world to you. When Pavel goes up to the podium, he speaks strongly, even though his eyes are teary and he's looking to a far off place full of memories. When you go up to speak, you still feel numb.

"Hikaru Sulu will always be in my heart. From the moment I first spoke to him, he was a gentle, kind and caring person, always honest and always my friend. He was always there for me when I felt alone or homesick. He gave his life to save mine. As we were hanging off a pipe, he looked afraid, just like me, but then, he saw the pipe bend, and knew it wouldn't hold us both. He forced my hand open and held on just long enough to say he loved me and that he was sorry that this was going to happen. The fear left his eyes and he looked calm and sad. Then, without fear, he let go. Had our positions been reversed, I would not have been able to do that. I wouldn't have had the courage to let my own life go to save someone else's. Jumping into a battle with bad odds is one kind of courage. It's the knowledge that you might die. But he knew without a shadow of a doubt what he was doing and he did it anyway. Hikaru Sulu meant the world to me. He still does. And he always will."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A/N I could really use some comments and constructive criticism. Are the characters ok? Should I leave Sulu dead or bring him back? How is Bones going to handle having a kid in his cabin?(That may turn out funny later.) I hope people start telling me what they think because I could sure use some suggestions. **

**Oh and should I find a way to send you home after all, or should I leave you in that Universe? Tell me what you think! Thanks to the three reviewers I've had so far.**

**Please continue to help me make this story better.**

**Warning, this chapter may be creepy for some people.**

You don't notice anything that happens after that. You don't remember anything over the next few days, because it's all the same. People saying how they miss Sulu, how sorry they are that he died. It meant nothing. You move to McCoy's room, and you take only the photo with you. "Geez kid. I'm sorry about what happened to Sulu." Bones says as soon as you enter. "Thanks Doctor." He seems taken aback by the harsh tone and the use of his title rather than his nickname. It's the first time you've ever used his title. Ever. He doesn't speak with you for the rest of the day, thinking that maybe a little space to yourself and time will heal your wounds. But it won't, because there are no wounds left to heal. You are just bone now. No skin, no blood, no heart or feelings, no mind or thought. You exist and do not exist. Without your friend standing beside you, after seeing him die, you are dead too.

After a few days, Bones starts trying to get you to eat again. You haven't got any hunger pangs and if you eat, you immediately throw it all up. You know your body is producing physical reactions to the stress that you no longer feel. While your concious mind is spared, your unconcious one is ever the more burdened. And the result is that you throw everything up. You won't even drink water. You can't. Soon, you fall sick with a terrible fever. You faint one day, and you wake up in Sickbay. You smile jokingly at Bones, even though it doesn't reach your eyes. "Gonna call me a whiner and kick me outta your Sickbay, Doctor?" He smiles, remembering that first day. He chuckles a little at your imitation of his Georgia accent that always comes out more when he's grumping. "And give you a bruise on the backside with my shoe to keep you out." He jokes back. "Ouch." You say grimacing in jest. Then you become so tired that your eyes shut. You hear and comprehend everything happening around you, but you can't respond or react, so everyone thinks you are unconcious.

A day in, Bones is musing over your readouts and waving his tricorder everywhere. "Darn it kid! Why can't you wake up long enough to tell me if anything hurts or can't feel? Why can't you get me the information I need to save your sorry life!" He sounds angry, but he's worried. Very worried. You don't feel bad at all. Other than being way too tired to even show awareness. Are you really in danger of dying? It doesn't feel that way. Other members of the crew drop in every now and then to check in on you and every time, the answer is the same. "No improvement, but not too much worse." Bones was telling your latest visitor. "Then that still means a bit worse." Bones' effort to sugarcoat the truth is lost on Spock. As usual. "Actually Spock, if I'm to be honest," "Doctor those two phrases in this case have similar meaning. Therefore they are redundant." Spock interrupts. He may sound emotionless, but you can tell he is just as worried, maybe even more so than Bones. "Darn it you Hobgoblin! You asked how he/she is and I'm trying to tell you honestly!" "You attempted to 'sugarcoat' the truth Doctor." He states indifferently. "Do you want my answer or not, you greenblooded..." Spock again interrupts. "Doctor that question has already been answered. How is the child?" "He/she will die in a few days if there aren't any changes Spock." "You mean improvements, Doctor." "Get outta my Sickbay!" Geez. Even when there is crisis, these two still bicker. Honestly! But you can tell that Spock is only being more logical because his emotions aren't disappearing the way he'd like them to. They are beginning to get overwhelming. A few hours later, you are visited by Pavel. He isn't so reserved about his feelings. "Doctor, will he/she be alright? He/she has been like a younger sibling to me and I'm very worried." Bones must have just put his hand on the boy's shoulder and given him a look that said Sorry kid, very plainly, because the next thing you hear is Pavel melting into tears. Only for a few minutes though. Soon, you fall away into darkness.

You are floating above the room, just a little. You realize a little belatedly that you're having an out of body experience. You see very clearly your vitals on the monitor are approaching zero. You are about to die. Suddenly, Hikaru is floating beside you. But how? Oh right, because he's dead. You turn toward him and try to hug him. "Not yet Little One. It's not time yet for us to fully reunite. I am only going to speak with you for now. This is a decision you must make. Save your life, and you may yet save us both. But if you choose death now, you pull us both into the abyss." "Are you not dead Hikaru?" "Again, Little One, that is not knowledge for you. The time we have for your choice is short."

Just as he said that, you hear a panicked, "Darn it kid don't give up on me now!" And turn to see your vitals have dropped to zero. You are physically dead. "Not yet." Hikaru says, reading your thoughts. You think absently that if he can do that, he's dead. And now so are you. "Stop thinking you're done for!There is still time! Doctor McCoy is going to try to bring you back. It's now time to choose." You feel tired. The pull of death and eternal sleep alluring. But as they shock your body, you feel the urge to return. The two pulls are equal and opposite. You can't choose. "Tell me what to do, Hikaru. I'm tired and I want to rest. But I want to live and have adventures. Tell me what it's like being dead." Hikaru looks ever patient but slightly rushed. "Stop asking and choose!" He says. "I can't." You tremble. "Then I will choose for you." And he grabs you and throws you back, to your body and the ever more frantic Doctor. Just as they administer the final shock, your vitals flare to life and then you lose conciousness.

"Sir, his/her vitals are back online!" You hear a nurse say. "Get out!" Bones growls. You are able to link to his mind and see what he sees. You see nothing through the eyes blurred with tears. You feel him kneel by your side and feel the sobs shaking his body. He is relieved that you're okay. For now. As soon as he's finished making sure that you are doing fine and not likely to lapse again, he goes to the rest of the Bridge crew (and Scotty) who are all off shift at the moment. "He/she is alive and breathing. Can't say if we'll have another close call or what." As you move your mind out of his, you realize that there are people in with you. You know you are still in danger of dying. It's ever constant pull in your mind, but for the moment, you aren't inclined to give in. You are content to lay there and listen.

When Bones isn't looking, Spock comes in and speaks in your ear. "Child, I'm going to do a small meld to communicate with you. I will not look at any thoughts that are not of the present, so that you feel your privacy is not invaded. I know you are aware. And I'm going to try to see what you are thinking and feeling." You feel him place his fingers on the relevant psi points. Then you feel another mind linked to your own. "Are you alright with this much penetration?" You hear him ask into your thoughts. "Yes." You respond the same way. "I want to know if you feel alright. Any pain, or nothing at all?" "Can't you tell?" "At this point, negative. I'd have to dig deeper and I do not believe that would be your fancy." "Absolutely not." "Then answer my questions. Are you in pain?" "No. There is nothing. No pain and no feeling. Not really peaceful either though." "Then Doctor McCoy is correct to assume that you are still close to death." "I feel it pulling." "Do you go with it?" "Not for now." "Why not?" You pause a moment to think. "I saw Hikaru. He said I had to choose. I couldn't and I asked him to choose for me. He chose for me to live. He said something like, if I save myself, it will somehow save him. But he's dead, so I don't know. What do you think Spock?" "It is my firm belief that it is your own choice to make. However, my opinion is that the crew would like to have you back." "What about you? Do you want me back?" You feel his emotion as he says, "Affirmative." "How do I go about coming back?" "Instead of holding steady and remaining neutral when death pulls, pull away, hard. Turn around and pull like a Klingon at death's pull. It will make it hard to move away, it will make itself seem like the best option, but if you want to live, don't look back. Keep pulling forward." And with that he recedes from your mind. Before he leaves, he places a comforting hand on your forehead and then walks away.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**A/N Okay, I creeped myself out a bit on that last chapter! (I might have a nightmare now!) But anyway, this one is going to start out creepy and then it'll get better from there. Remember to review!**

Sometime that night, you become aware that you are no longer resting but asking for a way out. You want to wake up and see your friends through your own eyes again. You feel tired. Too tired. You see Pavel, laughing and young and hear him weeping over your aware but unfeeling self. The pull strenghens, so tired, but you think of Hikaru, he gave his life so you'd live yours. You pull away. So tired it whispers. No you shout. I'm alive and young! I don't want eternal quiet. I want to see my friends smile and be happy. I want to sing and dance and smell the flowers on a bright sunny day and I want to ride far and fast and free on a horse or on a starship and see and learn new things. Too tired to move. See no pain, just rest. Just peace. No you say calm but loud. No I'm no longer tired. I'm full of energy all my own and my friends see it in me everyday. Leave me now so that I may see you later and have more stories to tell and lessons to teach! Leave me at once. You pull away as hard as you can and harder and death loses it's grip. You snap awake to a darkened room and the whir of machines sprung to life. Bones dashes in and sees your eyes are open. He turns on a light and they protest to it after having darkness for so long.

"Darn it kid! I thought you were a goner for a while. What were you thinking making me work day and night for a week to keep you alive?" He tries to sound gruff. But his emotions spill too readily through his voice. He hugs you. Hard. When he draws back, there are a few tears dripping off his chin. You realize that you're sore. All over. The pain is bearable. You know what no pain would've meant. You are just fine. Just then, the others, who had been standing outside talking when the alarms went off, rush in to see if things are alright. They must've expected you to be dead and they saw the tears on Bones' face and for a moment look as though they've lost all hope, until their eyes land on your alert ones. Only then do they realize that Bones' tears were those of joy. The first one to react is Pavel. He rushes up and hugs you. "I can't believe you're alive y/n! I'm so happy!" The others react much the same way. Except of course for Spock, who just stands there regarding you. He nods approval and you nod back in understanding. Nobody knew of the meld. And you need to keep it that way. "Oh ya had me worried! I thought we'd lost ya for sure laddie/lassie!" Scotty says. Bones shoos everyone out saying that you still need rest. "But Bones!" You groan. "But nothing kid!" He huffs.

"Okay, but you have to stay and hold my hand all night. I don't want death to start pulling again. It was hard to resist it. I was scared." "Kid, it's not going to bother you again until it's ready to be your friend. When you're a good 150 or 200 years old." "I've been resting all week. Can't you just load me up on painkillers and let me out of here? I thought you were going to boot me outta your Sickbay with a bruise on my backside to show for it." He grins fondly. "Okay fine." He doesn't even try to keep his amusement out of his voice. He tries to load you up on food and water too, but your body still rejects it. Adamantly. Bones throws his hands up in defeat. "I'll just give you nutrients straight to your bloodstream for now. You'll have to come to Sickbay for them three times a day. Now, get out!"

You walk out. You may be able to feel your body again, and death is no longer beckoning to you, but you still feel like your emotions are hidden too deep to find again. As you wander through the Enterprise, you feel your environment all over. The roar of the engines, the vibrations they create in the walls and the air rushing in and out of your lungs. Near to the end of the day, you decide to experiment with your powers. You go to a little used observation deck. You wonder how you can both manipulate objects and have a force field. You try a few things, but they don't work. Clearly, just thinking about what you want to do isn't the key. You realize that you can manipulate the matter and electric charge.

With a little nervousness, you test the idea by trying to create a small stone out of air. You realize that you don't know which ingredients you need for that, so you settle for an ounce of gold. You have to rearrange the atomic structure before moving up to molecular levels, the process starts slowly but you are increasingly understanding what is happening. The process goes much faster the third time. Then you change the gold back into air and try to drain a little energy from the ship. You succeed. You aim your thoughts and fire a small thin lightning bolt at a case sitting on a table on the far end of the room.

It helps your thoughts to stay focused if you pretend to aim with your hand. Hand motions increase power and make it look more like magic, (the bolt had looked like it was coming from your hand.) You try another method. You change the electronic charge in the air in front of you and it fires a bolt that way too. You are concerned that someone will hear the rumbles this practice is producing. But nobody comes up to the level, certainly not into the observation deck. So you start playing Let it go in your mind from the Disney movie Frozen.

_A kingdom of isolation_

_And it looks like I'm the queen._

You are isolated. Alone. All the time. You are the cause of your own lonelyness.

_The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside._

_Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I tried_

You see again the scene of Hikaru's death. The air rushing out of halls echos again in your ears as the air stirs in the observation deck. You couldn't have stopped what happened from happening. You hadn't known how. You killed someone because of it.

_Don't let them in, don't let them see_

_Be the good boy/girl you always have to be_

You can't let anymore of your friends see what you can do, you killed someone. At some point they would call on you to save them and you'd accidently kill them. You decide that now you can control

your abilities, you will keep them from being seen and hurting more friends.

_Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know_

_Well now they know!_

Your emotions once controlled your abilities, causing Hikaru's death, one of the two people who knew your secret is dead, the other is habitually quiet unless asked a question pertaining to a logical solution that directly effects the success of a mission. But nobody else can know. Still, two of them know.

_Let it go, let it go_

_Can't hold it back anymore._

You are happy to control these things that once plagued you. You let go of all previous apprehension that you'd hurt someone. As long as nobody else found out, things would be fine. You decide you can't hold back from some kind of celebration. You repair the damage done to the case from the lightning bolt. Nobody will ever know the difference. You cause a miniature airfront to form, causing the wind to blow. Then you turn some of the gaseous hydrogen and oxygen to water and make it look like the resulting snow is coming from your hand.

_Let the storm rage on_

_The cold never bothered me anyway_

You create a mini thunderstorm. You feel storms inside. They won't go away. You have to push all your friend away now to protect them. The thought of leaving them out of your life completely stings, but you tell yourself it doesn't. It can't. They can't know. You didn't see it at the time, but someone did know. Pavel was standing in the doorway his mouth wide open at what he was seeing.

_He was sitting in the hall. He'd been following the child ever since he/she had been released from Sickbay. He'd worried for him/her. As he was sitting in the doorway of the Observation deck, expecting to hear crying, he instead heard something hit the floor, followed shortly with the sound of a glass case being broken and a loud crack of thunder. Aboard a starship. Impossible! And yet, it wouldn't hurt to look... His heart drumming a guilty tune he looked through the door and stood up in shock. A lightning bolt, coming from the child's hand?! And the air was turning slightly windy. Pavel was throughly shocked. As the child stopped his/her song and ….magic?he stumbled a little, his mouth wide open. _

"Pavel?! How long were you standing there? How much of that did you see?" You ask, afraid of the answer. None is forthcoming, but the look on his face says everything. "Ok fine! I'm telekinetic! I guess we ought to tell everyone else now huh?" He slowly nods. He starts to take a step forward and then faints. When he wakes up in Sickbay he starts prattling on about what he saw, but he's too excited to be making any sense. " I saw him/her...you won't believe …...I can't see...I don't understand...how did...when did it st..." This senseless stuttering went on for about five minutes, after which Bones said, "Look kid! Settle down or I'll give you a sedative! Now, tell us what you saw."

Pavel apparently couldn't do that, he just looks at you expectantly. You take a deep breath. You do not want to do this. You have been trying to keep this secret for weeks. Oh well, better tell them now than for them to see later. "I'm telekinetic." They stare at you, waiting for more. None is forthcoming. You get uncomfortable with everyone staring after a few minutes. "You gonna show us something to prove it kid? We don't believe those kinds of things without some kinda proof." Bones says, arms crossed in a no nonsense way. "That little episode," You gesture to Pavel, still gaping at you in shock, "Isn't enough to prove it?" Spock stepped up very quietly behind Bones. "Doctor?" Bones flinched, more like jumped for the stars. "Darn it man! Give me a warning!" "I believe that the child is telling the truth." Spock apparently feels very pleased with his little joke, yes it had been a joke. He shows no indication of the joke or the Doctor's reaction. Nor did he pay any mind to the Doctor's reaction on the next thing. "You knew! Darn it Hobgoblin! Why didn't you say anything?" Bones nearly shouted.

"Not only do Vulcans place a high value on honesty, they believe strongly in keeping promises. I promised that I would say nothing to anyone. Until he/she could control it." You move closer to Spock. " I do know how to control it Spock. It impacts particles and electromagnetism. I manipulate the particles with my mind and I can make things out of air." Spock raises an eyebrow at you. "And would you now be willing to show us something?" He asks. You nod and immediately create a rock out of air and change it back. You pick up a hypospray that Bones had assigned to a patient. After looking at the chart by the patient's biobed, you decide to administer the shot and then place the hypospray gently back where you found it. All the while, Pavel starts chattering again and everyone else is staring in disbelief. "There you have it. I'm telekinetic and you just saw it for yourselves." Scotty is staring incredulously at you, but he apparently had suspected this. Maybe Hikaru had time to say something to him after all. Everyone sort of just quietly accepted the information. You had been sure that they'd all end up like Pavel. You were kind of hoping that they would proffer some funny reactions. Oh well.

As soon as Pavel is able to get up, Bones kicks him out of Sickbay. Jim keeps thinking that Hikaru''s death is bothering you. You don't really even remember it anymore. You still aren't feeling anything. As you settle into bed though, things start coming back and you can tell right off that you will start crying. Vaguely remembering what you did last time, on that first night, you go into the bathroom shared between Spock and Bones. Whoever assigned the crew quarters apparently either had no idea that these two would always argue or they thought it was some stupid joke or they were just outright insane. Apparently the excess heat from the Vulcan's quarters invaded the bathroom. Since Bones was from Georgia, he was used to such high temperatures, but whenever he showered, he'd complain about the burns the hotter water would cause, should he forget to check that Spock almost never changed the Vulcan setting back to the Human one for shower temperature. Tonight was such a night, and it had sent him grumbling up a storm.

You think of how funny that had been in order to keep your pain back until the door had shut behind you. You crawl into the space beneath the sink. You think of the Brother Bear movie and think of the song _No way out_. You know you can't stop hurting people. Darn compassion in this crew. It was too kind of them. Far too kind. And it had been instrumental in killing Hikaru. And yet, now you aren't even sure if he's really dead. Something keeps nagging at the back of your mind, something whispering that he's still alive. Probably just your brain denying it. Defending itself against the pain. You saw him die. You know he's gone. And yet, the nagging is still there. You ignore it. Your telekinesis is now under control. You can't hurt anyone that way at least. But you already killed someone. A best friend. And now, you had only the memories left. And it hurt. You allow the hurt to come out. Not full force, you don't make the same mistake twice, if Spock were to come in as Pavel had that first time you could stop... that's when it hit you. Pavel had said something. "If it were Spock next door, you'd have to worry." Spock was next with Vulcan ears and no sleep. You were probably ruining his meditation, or that crossed with sleep, whatever half Vulcans did. The doors were soundproof, but, Vulcans could hear through them, theoretically. The door swishes open as you are having this thought. And heat flows in. It's Spock and there's no going back. He heard you. The cabinet door opens and you look up right at the half Vulcan. "I'm sorry." You say.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**A/N Thanks a ton for reviews! I'd like to see some suggestions, though it's a bit late in the game now. If I get enough reviews on this giving some ideas, I might rewrite this story and incorporate the suggestions into it. I'd love to get that done, so if people could start telling me if I'm writing the characters correctly, if the plot's ok, and that none of the jokes seem too corny. Oh and for the last two chapters, was the whole floating partially dead thing too creepy? Just wondering. Maybe some reviews on favorite and least favorite scenes would be nice. What are your favorite parts of the story? What are your least favorite parts? What can I improve? **

_He was trying to concentrate on calming himself and sorting out his thoughts for the next day. But he couldn't. Through the soundproof door to the restroom, he heard weeping. The child again. He/she admired him and he didn't know why. He closed his eyes and tried again to concentrate, but the weeping interfered. He decided that his task would not be the easy one, but it would be the right and moral one. He only felt exasperated for a moment, before compassion took over. He was going to help this child, no matter what it took. When the door opened, he saw nobody there, so he opened the cabinet. The child pretended that nothing was wrong, and attempted to go back to his/her room._

He looks at you strangely. "For what?" "I forgot you were in the other room and that you can heat through otherwise soundproof doors." You say. "Come out of that cabinet." He says, so gently he sounds like his Human side is taking over. You crawl out and start for the door to Bones' cabin.

"I'll go back to bed. Sorry for interrupting your meditation." "You are going the wrong way." You turn and look at him confused. "I'm going to bed." "No, you are not. You are coming with me. We need to talk." Slowly, nervous of what could be waiting, you enter his quarters. They are held at a constant 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Normally too hot for Humans, but you feel fine in it. You had always held up to heat rather than cold. Had it been below 80 degrees you would've needed a coat.

You know he knows. And you are afraid that he wants you to tell him what you're feeling. You know you are not wrong in the assumption. You don't want anyone else to know. They love you and you love them, and they'll hurt for you and you'll hurt for them, and you believe that it will be an endless circle of pity and misery. "Is it too warm? I can cool it off if you like." Spock moves to the thermostat. "No I'm fine." You say. He feels confused as to how a Human can withstand such heat, and really, you have no understanding yourself. He sits across from you on the floor. You copy. "What were you crying about just now?" "I miss Hikaru. I feel his death was my fault." You barely manage to keep the emotionless mask on your face. Your theory is that if he sees that the problem is gone, he'll let you go back to bed. You're wrong. He's going to make sure you talk. "You suffer deeper pain also?"

You shake your head. "No, that's the worst thing." "Is there anything else? Anything from the past that hurt or tramatized you in some way?" He continues to press. He is gentle. Ever so gentle. Slowly you start to relax and lower your mask. And he can see the pain. "No." You say, even though now you know he hit where it hurts. "Will you let me see?" He asks quietly, gently, persuasively. "A mind meld?"

Even though now he knows the pain is there, you don't want to show him what causes it. Some things are so painful you don't even remember what they are. But he'll see them anyway. Maybe you will too. You are afraid of that vulnerability. But you lean forward and let him meld.

_Spock sees from the child's point of view. In this early memory, Spock is learning to walk. His mother sits on the couch sewing, watching with interest as he attempts to stand up and walk, and he loses his balance and falls forward. Catching himself on his hands, he pushes and gets back up. His mother is praising him enthusiastically, but he feels like he isn't doing it right. He wobbles, they don't. They can walk and he can't. He should be able to. With that, he gave a final push and stood up again. He never lost his balance just walking again._

_The same thing happened when he learned to read. The letters that formed words in the simplified children's book made no sense to him, though he knew they should. They formed patterns when he read them out loud, words that made sense. If adults could understand the patterns, then supposedly, so could he. And suddenly, the words and letters and pictures made sense to him and he could read. _

_He soon took 56 books out of the library from the adult section. He had four more he wanted to get desperately but his mother said no. He read every book he could find. _

_He remembered playing a game with his sister, pretending she was a puppy that he got for Christmas._

_She rolled out from under the Christmas tree. Happy to play along but bossed into playing this game._

_He remembered a Christmas when he had an ear infection and felt awful and he and his father were playfully tossed a rubber ball back and forth._

_Then come some scary memories. Falling off a large slide at his grandparents' house. A lightening bolt striking a transformer, the loud thunder echoing in his sensitive ears. He remembered being afraid of storms after that. Even before that. He'd have strange dreams of storms and wake up, have a hallucination of one and then one would actually start. Later on, his head started buzzing like a bunch of bees bumping around in there. _

_Then come the anger and boredom memories. Having been spoiled rotten his whole life, he would explode in fits of rage and damage walls, doors, anything not living that was within hitting or kicking range. His priveleges were all revoked. No speaking with siblings, no exiting his father's bedroom/office, no horse or animal contact. Schooling became is ally. His way to learn about the world he couldn't see. Then it became more fun. He developed a life long love of learning. Later, he was dragged along to his father's restaurant. He had to help all day there when he wasn't schooling. Nights became fun when he could sneak food out of the cupboards in the kitchen. He could sneak out and ride the horses he so loved. Dreams were always of fun places. Nighttime was his refuge. _

_Then when he and his father were driving home one night, there was a violent storm. The wind whistled wildly through the trees along the road. The rain came down sideways. Suddenly, he felt dizzy and upside down. For some reason, he looked out his father's window, and there was a bright flash of lavendar lightening lighting up behind a funnel. Tornadoes didn't normally happen here. This was bad. _

_He tried to tell his father, who then threatened to stop and lock him out. He kept his mouth shut. The next day on their way to the restaurant, they saw a terrible amount of damage. From then on, he was afraid of tornadoes. _

_He sees various other memories , finally coming up to the present. He sees Hikaru's death, feels the child's pain. He suddenly realizes that these memories are not his own. Full of pain and longing, _

_He breaks off the meld._

Spock opens his eyes. You are staring at him nervously. Now he knows everything about you. "Now you know. How I'm telekinetic, why I'm always trying to avoid friendships, getting them anyway and then they are taken away." "I also now know what it felt to be in your body when it screamed through it's various different senses. I understand that you believe Hikaru's death is your fault. It is not. It was an accident. You forgot that you had your telekinesis. Accidents have no blame. They are just that. Accidents." He hugs you. You are crying now, hard. The first part was scary. Trying to hold back, knowing your control was diminishing, then an easy rhythmic release of pain. The tears flow down your cheeks in a blissful rain. Spock just holds you. You feel love for you flowing from him. But you feel his hurt over something awful too. A tear falls and lands on your head. You realize it's not yours.

"Spock?" You say. You hear gentle sobbing from the half Human. "We both have experienced a great loss. And the losses are similar. You lost your world when you were beamed here, you lost a dear friend. I lost my world when I saw it destroyed before my eyes. I lost my mother because I could not save her." Soon enough, both of you are all cried out. You feel tired and lay down on the floor.

Spock decides to let his body take the Human route. Sleep. He climbs into bed. "Do you want to sleep on the floor or … snuggle with me?" He asks. The word snuggle sounds silly coming from someone who looks like a Vulcan, but is definitely also half Human. He lifts the blanket for you. You crawl in a snuggle up tight to Spock. He lays his arm over you. Together you both fall asleep.

_Kirk knew Spock was late for duty on the Bridge. He was concerned enough to check in Spock's quarters to see if he had died or something. He ran down the hallway and opened Spock's door via his Captain's override code. The door swished open. Jim froze in his tracks. There on the bed, Spock was sleeping. Like a Human! And snuggled up close beside him was the child. No wonder Bones had said he/she was missing this morning. Grinning, he snapped a photo on his touchscreen and coded the door shut. He called a replacement officer for the Bridge and continued on his way, grinning with the warm feeling he had. And the thought of embarrassing Spock later with that photo._

**A/N Hope everyone liked that fuzzy chapter! The first time I thought of Kirk taking a photo of that I laughed my head off. It's something he'd do. Review and suggest your ideas for a rewrite! If I do get to it, the rewrite will be awesome if we all work together on it! Anyway, we are getting close to the end of this story! Is anyone excited?**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

You and Spock wake up at about the same time. You feel fresh and renewed. And, dare you say it so soon, happy. Spock looks to be his logical self again, but there's still that look in his eyes that says you two have a bond of understanding. A friendship that can never be broken. Now that your mind is clear of the grief, you still feel the tickle. It feels like a mental link, but not with Spock. Whenever you are around people, your mind links up with theirs in a way that allows you to access any thoughts and feelings relevant to your safety and well being. If you love someone, the link allows for you to know generally what's happening. The link is not Spock's. His feels different. This one is familiar, weak and fading. You feel a pulse, life pulse starting to make itself apparent. You realize that it's starting to fade and that means that whoever is throwing off that pulse is dying. As you make the connection, you also realize that a part of your energy is always in use, even when you are asleep. As if your abilities are using themselves in the direct preservation of a living being. And then it hits you. Hikaru Sulu is still alive! You voice this to Spock quickly right before you take off running to the Bridge.

"Captain Kirk!" You say as you screech to a halt. "Hey kid. What's up?" "I think we need to go back to the area we left Sulu drifting in space. I think he's still alive." You manage to gasp out. "I don't know about that kid." "Listen to the child Captain. He/she has abilities that allow him/her to detect life pulse through mental links with loved ones. As he/she was very attached to Mr. Sulu, it is quite possible that his/her hunch is in fact correct." Spock had quickly followed you out of his quarters after your hurried explanation to support your theory, knowing that it would at first simply be seen as denial of the facts.

"Are you serious Spock? You want us to do a decidedly non Starfleet maneuver and disobey our diplomacy order to pick up a deceased crewmember's frozen corpse? I don't mean to sound insensitive here by the way, but really! We gave him a proper funeral. We gave him burial rights. He's gone."

"Captain, I fail to understand why you aren't taking my opinion seriously." Spock said, under his emotionless mask, anyone who knew him well enough could see he was very confused. "Spock, let's you and I have a talk in the hall." Kirk said. He'd been planning on revealing his knowledge of the half Human's connection with you in a more amusing way at a more opportune time. But this was serious. A First Officer publicly disagreeing with his Captain wasn't something to be taken lightly.

"Spock, off the record, what happened last night between you and the kid? I want you to tell the truth because I already know the answer." Spock blinked and answered without missing a beat. "Absolutely nothing Captain, that you should be aware of. It was a private matter of the child's handled in a safe place. It is not something you should have looked into." "You're dancing around the question Spock. I know it wasn't my place. I admit I was in the wrong and I also admit that I took a photo of you two snuggled up together for my own amusement. But I want you to tell me all the same. What were you doing?" "Helping the child through a difficulty. I am not at liberty to say more on the matter Captain. A Vulcan promised that child that his/her pain was safe to be released without shame or worry. A Human comforted him/her last night. Vulcans do not lie or break their promises, and Humans hold to loyalty and 'pinkie promises' I think they are called." "Fine! But Spock, my point is that you are emotionally attached to this kid. And that, " "Captain," Spock interrupted sounding for just moment like he was hurt that his Captain would believe that he would be swayed by emotion. "I believe that you're suggesting that my emotions are getting in the way of my function aboard ship." "Yes, Mr. Spock that is exactly what I'm suggesting." "It isn't true. I still have control and power over my emotions enough to tame them into their Vulcan nature. Even the facts point to him/her being correct at this point." You hear them argue indistinctly for about five more minutes. Then decision made for better or worse they came back to the Bridge. The Captain ordered a reverse of direction. The Enterprise was going to save Hikaru! About an hour later, you see Hikaru's tiny looking frozen body on the main viewscreen.

"Beam him in Scotty!" "Aye, sir!" Just as he materializes on the transport pad, you realize that your field had saved. A force field, that you do not remember putting there. How could you in the airlessness of space? Your telekinesis depended upon using existing matter in abundant quantities, as in having an atmosphere around you. Then you think hard and realize that when the air was rushing out, and you knew Hikaru would die, your subconscious mind threw the force field out on the remaining air and insulated him from the dangers of space, like ice on top of water in the winter, the over layer of cold (or energy in this case) protecting the warmer layer underneath with the water (Hikaru and his air supply.)from the cold (or danger). Unfortunately, this process required continued air supply to keep the field from falling apart and for Hikaru to breathe. In order for that to happen, your subconscious mind took from your energy to keep recycling and regenerating the air supply. Energy that you were running out of, which explained Hikaru's slow death pulse. You quickly take down the field. The medics quickly get him on a stretcher and take him to Sickbay. Right before you turn to follow, Scotty pipes up from the transporter touchscreen. "I did it! I finally did it! I dinna even think I could but I did! Laddie/lassie! I can send ya to another Universe! Just so ya know though, it may not be the right one. It's here whenever ya are ready to go." He is smiling from ear to ear, thinking that he might have found a lucky way home for you. Trouble was, you thought of this as your home now. You hurry to Sickbay to see how Hikaru is doing.

When you reach Sickbay, he is already awake and smiling at the crew. "Geez man! You know what it did to the kid when we all thought you were dead?" Bones grumped, even though everyone knew he was relieved that Sulu was fine. Hikaru's smile faded abruptly. "Yes. As a matter of fact I do know about that." He said in a short huffy breath. "You do? How?" Bones demanded. "His/her force field saved me, but eventually I started to suffocate. As soon as my body registered that it was dying, my consciousness left it. I was able to see everything. From the funeral, until I was beamed aboard the Enterprise and the field was taken down." "So that's why I saw you when I was about to die." You say stepping into view. Everyone flinches and you realize too late that you weren't supposed to hear this. "Yes. And I knew you were the one keeping my body alive and that eventually you'd realize it. If you lived." "So why did you give me a choice when it was both our lives at stake and not just mine? You needed me alive to save you ,if there was a chance you could be saved, so why did you give me a choice? I might have chosen to die you know." "I know. It was because there was a chance that I was too far gone anyway. If that was the case, and mind you I was fighting death the whole time so I know it's not easy, then I wanted you to choose eternal rest if that's what you felt you wanted. But, when you couldn't choose..." "You threw me back so that I could save you." You finish for him. "Right. But also, you saw what it was doing to this crew. Everyone was worried. Even Bones cried over you. Twice. Once in despair and once in relief." "You just stop talking or I'll give you a sedative right this minute." Bones grumped. Nobody had known he cried a second time. They knew he had a bigger heart than he'd like to let on. But seriously, he was used to losing patients. Didn't like it but was used to it. Nobody would have thought that he'd cry over losing a patient, unless it was Jim of course. They were shocked, but not as much as they were shocked over the fact that you and Hikaru had temporarily existed in two dimensions simultaniously. "Hikaru, did you miss the part where Scotty said that I could go home?" Hikaru looked shocked and pleased, and he felt those things, but he also felt an immense sadness. "Did he? No, I missed that part. Are you leaving then?" "I'm not sure exactly. I want to go home and see my mom and dog and horses. I want to go back to a semi normal life. But I feel that this is home. Like the Enterprise crew is my family. I don't want to leave but I feel like I have to." "Maybe, if we make a shore stop, being with the horses in the river and cave will help you make up your mind." "Maybe."

**A/N I won't be updating much for this because my mom is suspending computer time for a few months, so yeah, hope these last three chapters will hold you all until then.:) If anyone who reads this fiction is interested in Ultimate Spiderman on Netflix, I wrote a fanfiction for that to test the waters for the second sequel to this. It's not entirely unrelated to the sequels so if you read it, and you're good at seeing hidden hints, maybe you'll find something in there about the sequels for this. It's Four Hugs, an One that Everyone was There For. It's hurt/comfort and really short and sweet. Hope you all like it!**


	13. NOT A CHAPTER! AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Chapter13

**A/N I do intend to move this story on, so the main character will choose to go home. Of course, this will become a bit of a crossover since something goes wrong. Hope you can work with that. I was thinking some time on shore leave at the farm for the MC (main character) to think about it and to get a little more hurt/comfort and humor in. I won't be online for a few months. I will probably work on the next chapter myself for that reason, but if I do anything Trek related again, I'll shoot you a pm.:) (As soon as I figure out the whole mailbox thing on this site. I'm still a newbie. Anyhow, I'm very glad that you think my characters are in character. I was getting so stressed that I might be writing them wrong. Anyway, see you after the holidays and Merry Christmas!**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

The Enterprise turns around and heads for it's diplomatic mission a little belatedly. As they turn the ship around, a transmission comes through and Kirk orders it ignored. However, the transmitter keeps on trying, so finally Kirk has to take the call. It's Admiral Pike. "Captain Kirk, just what were you thinking when you aborted your course for an on time diplomatic mission without alerting Starfleet as to your whereabouts?" He sure sounds angry. "Well sir, we had to pick up a crewmember and it turned out that he was in a very distant location. I thought if I told you the whole story you'd have forbade me to go and then I couldn't have gone. But if I didn't tell you then you couldn't forbid us to do it."

Pike looks so angry that you fear he might explode into a million little pieces. "And just where was this crewmember that he could've been floating in space lightyears from anywhere?" "He was thought to be dead sir, but he's proven to be alive and well. More than that I can't tell you because it would sound crazy." "Well Kirk, I believe in lots of crazy things. For instance, time traveling Romulans and the fact that a Starfleet rookie managed to save the Earth. Tell me what it is son." Kirk looks at you and you step forward to speak to the Admiral. "Sir, I believe that I'm the anomaly to which Captain Kirk was referring. It's a long story but I put Mr. Sulu in danger and he gave his life to save mine. I didn't know it at the time, but I managed to use telekinesis to form a force field around him and he survived. We discovered it just this morning and went to get him, since the field was degrading rapidly. I'm sorry sir, for the inconvenience." Admiral Pike was certainly not sure what to say to that. "Well," he managed at last, "That is something new. Alright Kirk. We've already sent another ship in your stead, so come on back to Earth for a short shore leave. I'd like to speak to your little friend a bit more. Pike out."

You sit there and wait the two hours it takes to get back to Earth. When the Enterprise docks, the Bridge crew are the last to leave. You stay by Spock and Hikaru. Mrs. McCoy fusses over you again and bawls Bones out for not looking after you and that you look just plain spent. Spock sits behind you and Hikaru. "Hikaru, why do you think the Admiral wants to talk with me? Do you suppose he'll charge me with attempted murder?" You ask. You had been spinning all kinds of weird ideas in your head since that transmission. "No, I think he wants to know more about your abilities. I think he's fascinated by what you can do." Spock puts his hand on you head for a gentle meld to allow you some peace. It helps and soon you fall asleep. When you wake up, you're in the room where you slept the last time you were here. You hear voices downstairs. You get up and walk down there and peek into the living room.

You see that Admiral Pike is there and you try to duck out of sight to go see the horses. But he sees you and motions for you to come over. He's not angry now and his personality seems kind and gentle. You decide he's no threat. You shake his hand and he says he wants to go for a walk with you. You both walk out to the barn and get two horses. As it turns out, the man is a skilled horseman and can ride bareback even better than you can. You take the red roan mare and he takes a handsome dapple gray gelding. You both ride out to the river and he rolls out a picnic blanket while you and the roan swim. Then when you come ashore you eat a good old farm grown lunch made by Mrs. McCoy.

When you're finished, Pike leans back. "Mrs. McCoy's cooking never disappoints. Right kid?" "Yes sir. She's an amazing cook!" "You can drop the sir kid. I want to be friends. Call me Chris." "Ok." You both look at the sunset. "Quite beautiful out here isn't it?" "Yeah." "Tell me where you're from kid." You give him basically the whole story. He looks very shocked at the whole thing. "Wow, so you have all these abilities and you're not even able to go home to use them." "Well Chris, that's just it. I can try to go home now. Scotty figured out a way to send me to another universe, but we aren't sure that it'll be the right one. I think of the Enterprise as my home now. The crew is like family." Chris smiles a little. "Yes," he says. "I heard that you even managed to win Spock's heart. And he's not even ashamed to admit it." You chuckle a little. "Yeah, he's so kind to me. What would you do in my shoes?"

Pike seemed to think for a moment. "The river is often steady, isn't it?" "Yes." "Always takes the same path to the ocean. It's always thinking about the ocean. But what about when it decides that it wants to try another path? What if it's thoughts veer towards another home in a lake?" "It disrupts order. It causes the river trouble." You think you're starting to understand his point. "But eventually it settles into the new pattern." "Right. So, what do you think it signifies?" He asks gently. You think for a moment. "Well," You say. "I suppose that it means that if I choose another road, the other universe, things might turn out ok or they might get a little chaotic. But eventually I'll make friends, and things will settle to the new pattern. Right?" You look at him, hoping you didn't miss the point. "Right." He says. "Choose what you will, but remember that you'll always make friends. Nothing will be too dangerous or difficult. Because you have abilities that most do not. Use them wisely, and you'll live until you find a way home." He smiles, pats you on the back and heads out. You decide to tell him that you want him to tell everyone that you're camping here tonight. He agrees. As the stars come out, you wonder what the next universe is going to hold. You are certain it will not be your own. Maybe the next time. A little belatedly, you realize that there is no going back now. You've already decided that you're going to go to another universe and hope that the people there can get you home.

_Spock sees all of what happens at the river. He wants to make sure he knows what Pike says. He wants the child to choose on his/her own, but he wants the child to stay here. He won't deny it if asked, but he won't freely offer the information that he loves that child. He wants to hold to him/her and never let go. He wonders if that's the way it feels to be a father. He wants to see this little boy/girl grow up and become a great hero in society. But in his heart, he already knows what his/her decision will be. As much as he/she loves this Universe, the Enterprise and the friends he/she has made, he/she doesn't really belong here. This isn't his/her real home. No. He corrects himself. This is a home. But not the one that he/she wants to wholeheartedly stay in. He allows himself a few tears, silent but healing, to slip down his cheeks as he watches over the child from the safety of the tree he made his meditation space for tonight. _

_Somewhere nearby where Spock is, Bones and Hikaru are watching over this child too. They know what he/she chose. They know the next few days will be their last with him/her. They both sleep lightly and wake in enough time to get themselves back to the house before the child wakes up._


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14

When you wake up in the morning, you realize that you slept much longer than usual and that it was a little after breakfast time. And your stomach is noisily reminding you. Then you realize that the red roan mare wandered back to the farm, having not been tied that night. Spock comes from out of the trees and you know he's been there all night. He just gets down in front of you so that you can get n his back piggy back style. Then he takes off about as quickly as any horse. When you get close to the house, he playfully dumps you in a bush and takes off, circling back around to tap your shoulder and say, "I tag you. You're It." Laughing you chase him all the way back to the house where he slows enough to make you struggle a little before tagging him. Bones and Hikaru see the whole thing. Hikaru has tears in his eyes as he wonders out loud whether Spock knows or not. "Of course he knows! He's no fool!" Bones grumps in response.

You eat a late breakfast and then everyone heads up to the Enterprise. They still have shore leave for a week. You could stay until it's over, but you know that you'll change your mind if you do. When you reach the transporter room, Pavel hugs you long and hard and says he'll miss you. He seems determined to hold off his tears until after you've left. Kirk presents you with a gift, wrapped in pretty wrapping paper with balloons on it. "Open it when you feel sad or scared or alone in the next Universe you end up in. Hikaru said we missed your birthday. Happy Late Birthday kid." You take the gift and smile thankfully as you hug him and Hikaru. "Be strong Little One. No matter where you end up. I know you can make your way through anything." He hugs you hard as tears trail silently down his face. Out of all these people, you know you will miss this gentle, kind and caring man the most. Carol and Nyota hug you next. They've been like sisters to you.

Then Scotty comes up to you. "Laddie/lassie I'm proud of ya for being brave enough to go to whole other Universe, but I really wish you'd keep us company here. I've taken a liking to ya and I'm real sorry ta see ya go." He hugs you and you remember that night that he found you behind the cabinet. A few tears fall from your eyes. He sobs a few times, then composes himself and steps up to the control panel where this whole adventure began those few months ago. It seems to you that the time both dragged and flew by. It feels like an eternity has passed and yet it feels like no time at all has passed.

Bones is struggling to keep his gruff and tough mask on, but it's becoming increasingly apparent that he can't keep it much longer. "Darn it kid! Making all of us love you like family then leavin' us in the dust! You ought to be ashamed! Darn it! I love you kid!" He cries a bit when he hugs you. Everyone knows he and Spock and Hikaru will miss you the most. Spock simply regards you. There are a few tears in his eyes, but they don't make it any farther. "I will miss you very much." He says as he steps forward and hugs you in full view of everyone. You step onto the transporter pad and wave. Then you feel the beam take you.

As you materialize in a place with computers and a few desks and walls of stone, you hear Pavel run off crying. Then you are completely and totally alone. There are three intertwining red circles formed in a triangle on an automatic door. You are in the Lab Rats Universe.

**A/N Ok, that wraps this one up! I haven't decided on the name of the sequel yet, it will be in the Lab Rats Universe. I suggest watching a few episodes of season one and two before reading the sequel. It will be set before Perry knows about the bionic kids and before Leo has bionics.**

**See ya then!**


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